Scheduled Monument
Montfode CastleSM5816
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
- 25/10/1993
- Supplementary Information Updated
- 11/06/2015
- Type
- Secular: castle; tower
- Local Authority
- North Ayrshire
- Parish
- Ardrossan
- NGR
- NS 22630 44103
- Coordinates
- 222630, 644103
Description
The monument consists of the remains of Montfode Castle, a fortified tower of sixteenth-century date.
The structure is situated on a level piece of ground on the W bank of the Montfode burn. All that remains upstanding of the original castle which is thought to have been built on the Z-plan is a circular tower
at the N angle and part of the S wall. The area wherein the castle
stood is level and no evidence of masonry is apparent. The random
rubble tower has had four storeys and is about 8m high. Its internal diameter is 2.3m with walls 0.7-0.8m thick. The S wall (1.4m thick
and 7m high) extends for 2.6m and contains one slit window. The
tower's square-headed entrance is in the SE. There are three slit windows and a shot hole (at ground level) in the N wall. There was probably a newel staircase in the tower.
The area to be scheduled is a parallelogram and measures a maximum of 120m E-W by 80m N-S to include the tower and a surrounding area which
is very likely to contain buried remains of outlying structures, as shown in red on the accompanying map.
References
Bibliography
No Bibliography entries for this designation
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.
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