Description
The monument comprises the remains of a tower house, a type of defensive residence probably dating to the mid-16th century. It survives as the ruined standing remains of stone round tower (the interior of which is filled with rubble), turf covered wall footings, and the slight earthwork remains of an enclosure. The tower house is located in garden ground on the eastern bank of the River Braan in Strathbraan, at around 150m above sea level.
The tower house is rectangular on plan measuring approximately 20m long by 12m transversely, with the remains of a circular tower at the eastern end. Only this tower, and a short stretch of wall on the north side of the tower, now remains visible above ground. The tower survives to approximately 5m metres high with a narrow-slit window on the eastern side and a shot hole on the southern side. This shot hole, although very damaged, appears to have been a wide-mouthed type. The tower measures approximately 2.8m in diameter within walls 1m thick. Surrounding the building is an enclosed area or courtyard partly defined by a slight earthwork.
The scheduled area is irregular; the northern and western boundaries conform to the modern garden boundary, while the southern boundary is 4m from the building known as The Smithy at its closest point. It includes the remains described above and an area around within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. Specifically excluded from the scheduled monument are the above ground remains of a wooden transmission pole and modern boundary features, including a post and wire fence.
Statement of National Importance
The national importance of the monument is demonstrated in the following way(s) (see Designations Policy and Selection Guidance, Annex 1, para 17):
a. The monument is of national importance because it makes a significant contribution to our understanding or appreciation of the past or has the potential to do so. The monument is the remains of a tower house and enclosure/ courtyard. The study of its form, construction and layout has the potential to enhance our knowledge of tower house complexes and their development over time.
b. The monument retains structural, architectural, decorative or other physical attributes which make a significant contribution to our understanding or appreciation of the past. In addition to buried archaeological features, the monument comprises the ruined standing remains of a stone tower. This has the potential to increase our understanding of the construction materials and techniques used and the phasing of the monument.
e. The monument has research potential which could significantly contribute to our understanding or appreciation of the past. The monument has the potential to contribute to our understanding of medieval and social and domestic organisation, the development of medieval tower house complexes and the organisation of high-status settlements in Perthshire and throughout Scotland.
f. The monument makes a significant contribution to today's landscape and our understanding of the historic landscape by providing insight into the layout of medieval tower houses and their placement in the wider contemporary landscape.
Assessment of Cultural Significance
This statement of national importance has been informed by the following assessment of cultural significance:
Intrinsic characteristics (how the remains of a site or place contribute to our knowledge of the past)
The monument comprises the remains of a small tower house with an enclosure/ courtyard. The tower house is rectangular with a shallowly projecting tower at its southeastern angle, and measures measuring approximately 12m by 20m. The tower survives in a ruined state at approximately 5m high with a rubble filled interior. The rest of the structure and the outer enclosure/ courtyard survives as slight earthworks or buried archaeological remains.
The castle is first documented in the Chronicle of Fortingall which states that on the August 25, 1545, 'the House of Gordalis Throchchdare apud Strythbrawy (Trochrie in Strathbraan) was burnt by Alexander MacGregor of Glenstray.' The building was depicted in the late 17th century on a manuscript map by John Adair. The sketch is unclear but appears to show a small tower within a rectangular enclosure, which is consistent with the current interpretation of the remains. By the time of James Stobie's map in 1783 the tower is shown as a ruined structure. When it is first mapped by the Ordnance Survey in 1866 it shows the east and north walls were still visible, while the west and south walls are shown as indicative wall lines. The second edition Ordnance survey (1900) only shows the tower as a standing structure with the rest of the line shown as indicative wall lines, reflecting what now survives.
It has been suggested that Trochrie castle may have been a Z-plan tower with towers at the southeast and northwest corners of the rectangular main range which is aligned east northeast-west southwest. However, it is possible Trochrie had a simpler plan with a main block and single tower, which contained a stair. There is now no visible evidence of a tower at the northwest angle, while an account from the mid-18th century describes the remains much as they survive today (New Statistic Account, 1845, Vol 10 Perth, Little Dunkeld Parish, p1007). The first edition Ordnance Survey (1866) mapping shows the castle slightly more entire than it is today and the depiction of the northwest angle does not indicate the existence of a tower. The form of the surviving slit window and particularly the shot hole in the tower suggest that the castle was built, or was altered, in the mid-16th century which is consistent with documentary evidence for its existence in 1545. Such a date would be early for a Z-planned tower, which mostly date to the post-Reformation period.
The survival of an outer enclosure feature adds to the interest in this site. It may have served more than one function such as an outer defence but also as delineating an area in close proximity to the tower house where storage and wider estate management activity took place. There is good potential for the survival of boundary features, ancillary structures and the buried remains of this activity in the ground surrounding the tower house. However, it remains unclear if the enclosure is contemporary with the tower house or it is a feature from a different phase of development here.
Overall, the study of the form, construction and layout of this tower house can help enhance our understanding of tower house complexes and their development over time. The buried archaeological deposits have the potential to provide information about the date, character and function of the different components of the monument, while any artefacts and environmental information such as pollen or charcoal, would enhance understanding of the economy, diet and social status of the occupants, as well as provide information about contemporary land use and environment.
Contextual characteristics (how a site or place relates to its surroundings and/or to our existing knowledge of the past)
Trochrie tower house belongs to a larger group of relatively widespread late medieval, defended domestic buildings in Scotland. Almost 1000 examples of the broad category 'tower house' have been recorded and there are notable concentrations in central and southern Scotland. Trochrie is of significance due to the survival of its surrounding enclosure which may be the remains of a courtyard in which there may have been ancillary buildings. If the tower was a simple rectangular block with a single round tower, rather than a Z-plan, it would be a relatively unusual plan form. The remains of a similar, although much reconstructed, small tower house (Rohallion Castle) is located six kilometres east, above the River Tay (Canmore reference 27176) with other examples located further along the upper and lower reaches of the River Tay.
The site at Trochrie was likely part of a wider rural landscape where hunting, animal husbandry and woodland management were undertaken. Strathbraan and Birnam was a Royal hunting forest until 1499 and Trochrie Castle appears to have been used as a hunting seat from which to exploit the forests of Strathbraan. This role for the castle is further suggested by documentary sources which state that William Stewart of Banchrie was appointed in September 1600 as 'Baillie of Strathbraan, and keeper of the King's House at Trochrie, and of the parks and forests of Strathbraan' (J Mclean 1857, p99). The castle's location on the east bank of the River Bran allowed for easy access to a water supply and for transport links and communication, taking advantage of the natural routeway along Strathbraan between Dunkeld to the northeast and Amulree to the southwest.
Associative characteristics (how a site or place relates to people, events, and/or historic and social movements)
The tower is associated with the Ruthven family, earls of Gowrie, who held it as part of their barony of Strathbraan. The Ruthven family was forfeit as a result of the Gowrie Conspiracy (5 August 1600), during which John Ruthven, 3rd Earl of Gowrie and his brother Alexander were killed as part of a plot against James VI. James was to appoint one of his supporters, William Stewart of Banchrie, as 'Baillie of Strathbraan and keeper of the King's House at Trochrie, and of the parks and forests of Strathbraan' (J Mclean 1857, p99).