Documents

Where documents include maps, the use of this data is subject to terms and conditions (https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/termsandconditions).

The legal document available for download below constitutes the formal designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The additional details provided on this page are provided for information purposes only and do not form part of the designation. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within this additional information.

• Type

  Legal Documents

  Title

  SM1116_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600003905)

Summary

Description

The monument consists of an Iron Age fortification, or dun, which has been partly reconstructed. There is evidence for re-use in the latter part of the first millennium AD.

Castle Haven dun was cleared of rubble and partly reconstructed in 1905. The limit of original stonework was shown by a painted line, now obscure, and the work is commemorated by a small bronze plaque set into the walling to the left of the entrance, inside the courtyard.Artefacts recovered from the 1905 excavations include human bones, pottery, worked stone and metal artefacts of the early Iron

Age and also, possibly, of 8th/9th century AD date.

The dun is D-shaped on plan, with walls up to 5m thick surrounding a courtyard 18m by 11m. The walls are galleried, and contain at least one stone stairway, although the reconstruction of the upper levels is not necessarily authentic. The dun stands within an outer courtyard of similar plan but with narrower walls, now much reduced. There are entrances at the NE end of the dun and also to the WSW, the latter leading steeply down to a small bay, which would have provided an ideal landing place for small boats.

The area to be scheduled includes the dun, the outer enclosure and an area around them, in which evidence relating to their construction and use may survive. It is bounded to the NW by the top of a steep rocky drop. The area measures a maximum of 85m NE-SW by 40m, as marked in red on the accompanying map.

Statement of National Importance

The monument is of national importance as a very fine and generally convincing reconstruction of an Iron Age dun, in an area where such monuments are numerous but usually in a thoroughly ruined condition. Despite excavations in the early twentieth century, considerable amounts of undisturbed archaeological deposits can be expected to survive, which, taken with the foundations of the original structure preserved beneath the 1905 rebuilding work, have the potential to provide important evidence about Iron Age and early medieval defensive architecture and domestic economy.

References

Bibliography

About Scheduled Monuments

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Scheduling is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for monuments and archaeological sites of national importance as set out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.

We schedule sites and monuments that are found to be of national importance using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Scheduled monument records provide an indication of the national importance of the scheduled monument which has been identified by the description and map. The description and map (see ‘legal documents’ above) showing the scheduled area is the designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The statement of national importance and additional information provided are supplementary and provided for general information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within the statement of national importance or additional information. These records are not definitive historical or archaeological accounts or a complete description of the monument(s).

The format of scheduled monument records has changed over time. Earlier records will usually be brief. Some information will not have been recorded and the map will not be to current standards. Even if what is described and what is mapped has changed, the monument is still scheduled.

Scheduled monument consent is required to carry out certain work, including repairs, to scheduled monuments. Applications for scheduled monument consent are made to us. We are happy to discuss your proposals with you before you apply and we do not charge for advice or consent. More information about consent and how to apply for it can be found on our website at www.historicenvironment.scot.

Find out more about scheduling and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.