Scheduled Monument
Castle Point, promontory fort 250m NNE of Westerwards CroftSM11111
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
- 09/02/2004
- Type
- Prehistoric domestic and defensive: fort (includes hill fort and promontory fort)
- Local Authority
- Aberdeenshire
- Parish
- Fordyce
- NGR
- NJ 58137 66459
- Coordinates
- 358137, 866459
Description
The monument comprises the remains of a fort, probably of prehistoric date, occupying a rocky promontory.
A low turf-covered bank defines a rectangular area measuring 14m by 4m. To the SE a small sub-rectangular depression may define a small building. The southern Moray Firth coastline has a number of defended promontories and excavation shows that they generally had a long and complex history of occupation. Other promontory sites have produced very well preserved archaeological remains.
The area to be scheduled is irregular and measures about 70m from its easternmost point to its westernmost, and about 90m from its northernmost point to its southernmost, to include the remains described and an area around and between them, in which related material is likely to survive, as marked in red on the attached map.
Statement of National Importance
The monument is of national importance in its own right as a defended promontory, probably with a long history of occupation, which has the potential to enhance considerably our understanding of settlement through a long period of Scotland's past. It is of wider importance as one of a series of promontory sites on this coast, which together have the potential to enhance our understanding of social and economic systems in prehistory and the medieval period.
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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