Cowie Castle

NO88NE 21 8836 8713

(NO 8836 8714) Castle of Cowie (NR) (Site of)

OS 6" map, (1928)

All that remains of Cowie Castle, said to have been a royal hunting castle, is a low stone wall with the remains of an offset course, close to the path. Watt (1914) states that the castle is erroneously supposed to have been built by Malcolm Canmore, but seems to imply its existence in the 11th century.

F C Eeles 1897; J C Watt 1914.

The remains of Castle of Cowie comprise one plinth course and one course of masonry, 6.0m in length, contained in a grass bank beside a footpath at NO 8835 8714. It runs across the promontory, which measures 37.0m NE to SW by 37.0m transversely, on which the castle undoubtedly stood. A deep trench has been cut through the NW corner of the promontory.

Wall surveyed at 1/2500.

Visited by OS (R D), 23 July 1965.

The remains of Cowie Castle stand on a sheer-sided coastal promontory 180m SSW of Cowie Chapel (NO88NE 22). A wall, 28.3m in length, 1.8m in thickness and 1.7m in height, is drawn across the neck of the promontory, which measures 47m from WNW to ENE by 25m transversely. The wall is of mortared stone and has a heavy chamfered base plinth. There are no visible remains of internal structures; a 19th century trench cuts the promontory on the NNE side.

NSA 1845; A Jervise 1861; J C Watt 1914; RCAHMS 1984, visited October 1983.

Listed.

Scottish Castle Survey 1988; N Bogdan and I B D Bryce 1991.

(Scheduled as Castle of Cowie).

Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 13 June 2001.