Scheduled Monument

Isle of Moy, fortified island and laird's houseSM11446

Status: Designated

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.

Summary

Date Added
21/03/2007
Type
Secular: castle; crannog (with post-prehistoric use); domestic buildings; house; monument
Local Authority
Highland
Parish
Moy And Dalarossie
NGR
NH 77581 34333
Coordinates
277581, 834333

Description

The monument comprises a largely artificial island in Loch Moy which was fortified, probably during the Middle Ages and which, by the 17th century, supported a laird's house along with a considerable number of service buildings. The island also supports a B-listed obelisk (HBNUM 14889). Since its last occupation, the surrounding loch has been drained and considerably lowered, and much of the island is covered in low vegetation and trees.

The draining of the loch has exposed the natural rise of what was once the loch bed and that may have formed a small natural island with gently sloping sides. The higher elements of the island have been heavily modified, with near vertical edges steeply rising around the circumference of the interior. The interior was divided into two parts that a raised walkway, now 0.6 m high and almost 2 m across, perhaps initially separated and linked. In places a 0.3 m high, 1 m wide lip is visible around the circumference of the level surface of the interior, indicating that this once formed an outer ring-work or castellated wall.

The enclosure wall may be contemporary with occupation attributed to the site in the 14th century by oral historical tradition, recorded in the late 18th century, both locally and in Moidart, linking the 'Isle' or 'Castle' to the chiefs of the Mackintosh lineage/Clann Mac an Tiosich. Written evidence for the site's occupation belongs to the 17th century when a number of documents were signed on the island. In the 1790s, a local writer and the Old Statistical Account record almost verbatim passages. These describe the island as comprising an abandoned house containing four fire-rooms, the remains of a street running the length of the island with the foundations of buildings visible on either side, and a garden with a gate bearing an inscription dating its construction to Lachlan, the 20th Laird of Mackintosh, in 1665.

The gate no longer survives, but the ruined remains of the house remain on the southern half of the island. The S gable still stands to 2.7 m in height, indicating a multi-storeyed dwelling, with mortared walls 1 m thick and an interior measuring 15.75 m long from N to S, by 4.65 m transversely. Much of the interior is now infilled with rubble. A drystone structure, measuring 6 m by 4.5 m, has been built onto the southern end. Only the footings of some of the external buildings remain at the southern end of the S island.

Cartographic evidence, provided by Robert Gordon and General Roy, additionally indicates occupation of the island in the 17th and mid-18th centuries.

Much of the northern and central area of the southern island has subsequently been capped by a 0.3 m deep layer of concreted pebbles, associated with the construction of the large early 19th-century obelisk. A well-built causeway/boat noost, with iron rings inserted into it, extending to the W of the southern island may also belong to this phase.

With the exception of the raised walkway, no remains are visible through the undergrowth on the northern island.

The area to be scheduled is irregular polygon on plan, to cover the whole surface of the island, its associated structures and archaeological deposits, as marked in red on the accompanying map. The scheduling excludes the above-ground elements of the B-listed obelisk.

Statement of National Importance

Cultural Significance

The monument's archaeological and historical significance can be expressed as follows:

Intrinsic characteristics: The well-preserved structural remains chart developments in the dwelling patterns and architectural styles employed by the upper strata of Gaelic/Highland society, from the construction of modified islands, to a castellated monument form resembling a motte-and-bailey, and eventually a more genteel domestic dwelling with a range of supporting outbuildings. The draining of the loch means that there is little likelihood of the preservation of waterlogged deposits at the surface of the island, and in parts this will be exacerbated by the growth of trees. However, the lower portions are likely to remain waterlogged, and the build up of deposits over numerous phases of occupation means that there is a high potential for well-preserved structural, environmental and other archaeological deposits to have survived. This evidence can provide essential information for the future study of the status, life-style and consumption patterns of the island's occupants and for how they lived in and interacted with the communities and environments within the surrounding landscape.

Contextual characteristics: These types of monument sit at the centre of medieval and post-medieval Gaelic/Highland lordships. This example has the potential to inform future research into the mechanics of those lordships. In particular, it can tell us about how people might use island occupation to fulfil a multitude of roles, including display, defence and domesticity, and to demonstrate reclusiveness or accessibility. Developments at this site can therefore illuminate changes in the practice of lordship in this region, as well as its cultural and architectural accoutrements. This lordship sat on the border between the Highlands and the Lowlands, each with differing cultural concepts of society, religion and politics. Central Highland lordships were also very different in practice from those Gaelic lordships further N and W. Study of this monument, when compared with those from elsewhere, has the potential to reveal much about the interactions of these spheres of Scottish society.

Associative characteristics: The later stages of occupation on this island reveal how Highland lairds in the 1600s and 1700s were adopting Lowland architectural styles and practices, such as building gardens.

National Importance

The monument is of national importance because it is a fine example of monument of its type, reflecting changes in the practice of Gaelic/Highland lordship. This includes developments in the architectural styles employed to demonstrate the cultural and social position of the social elite during the transformation of the heads of the Clann Mac an Toisich/Mackenzies from lords to chiefs and eventually lairds. The likelihood of preserved archaeological and environmental remains has the potential to support and sustain future research into life, society and culture in this part of the Highlands. Differences between this monument and others of a similar type elsewhere in the Highlands and the rest of Scotland can reveal much about the local and wider social, political and cultural interactions between lords in this region, fellow Gaels and Lowlanders. The loss of this example would severely hinder our understanding of these issues.

References

Bibliography

RCAHMS record the site as NH73SE 2. It is recorded in the Highland SMR as NH73SE0002.

Aerial photographs:

91/01/1/01, 1991, Castle (remains of) and monument. Highland Regional Council.

91/01/1/02, 1991, Castle (remains of) and monument. Highland Regional Council.

91/01/1/26, 1991, Monument and Castle. Highland Regional Council.

References:

ISSFC 1888, 'Excursion to Craggie and Loch Moy. Saturday 4th June 1881', TRANS INVERNESS SCI SOC FLD CLUB 2, 109.

Meldrum E A 1972, LOCH MOY AND ITS ISLANDS. HIGHLAND INDUSTRIES AT MOY HALL.

Stuart J 1868, 'Notice of a group of artifical islands in the Loch of Dowalton, Wigtonshire, and of other artificial islands or Crannogs throughout Scotland', PROC SOC ANTIQ SCOT, 1868, 18-20.

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.

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Printed: 28/03/2024 09:48