Old House of Keppoch

Heritage listing

Date Added 05/03/1996 Supplementary Information Updated 03/02/2021 Type Secular: bailey; castle; moat; motte Local Authority Highland Parish Kilmonivaig NGR NN 27061 80772 Coordinates 227061, 780772 — The monument consists of the earthwork remains of a castle, standing near the junction of the Rivers Roy and Spean. The site is the end of a natural spur of land some 6m high, running approximately NW-SE. Ditches have been dug across the spur to isolate 3 mounds. The northernmost mound measures 40m NW-SE and tapers from 30m to 16m SW-NE. An earthen bank remains along much of the perimeter and although no stone is now visible it is possible either that this covers the footings of a stone curtain wall or that it originally supported a wooden palisade. There is a break in the bank at the NW end, where an entrance may have been located. Towards the SE end of this mound is a rectangular hollow, which may mark the former position of a well. The middle mound measures approximately 6m NW-SE by 9m SW-NE, although it may originally have been larger. Its top is slightly lower than the northernmost mound. The southernmost mound (which may possibly have formed part of the system of defences rather than supported accomodation) measures approximately 12m NW-SE by 5m SW-NE. A bank runs from this mound towards the northernmost mound, enclosing the SW side of the middle mound, and both this bank and the NW side of the southernmost mound contain significant amounts of stone. It is suggested that the castle was moated to the N and W. The castle appears to have taken the form of a motte and bailey, a form generally ascribed elsewhere in Scotland to the 12th-14th centuries. A house or castle is recorded as having been built on this site at the beginning of the 16th century by the 6th Chief of t

From Historic Environment Scotland under OGL v3.