Alternative Names Smiddyhill; Kirkhill
Site type CASTLE
Canmore ID 16985
Site Number NJ40NW 11
NGR NJ 4362 0659
Council ABERDEENSHIRE
Parish LOGIE-COLDSTONE
Former Region GRAMPIAN
Former District KINCARDINE AND DEESIDE
Former County ABERDEENSHIRE

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Archaeological Notes

NJ40NW 11 4362 0659

(NJ 4362 0659) Migvie Castle (NR) (Remains of)
OS 6" map, Aberdeenshire, 2nd ed., (1902)

The castle is first mentioned in a charter of the Earl of Mar dated 1268 but was probably uninhabitable by 1565. The castle stance is now an elevated tump amid which the foundations are involved with farm roads, ditches and dykes, and partially covered by the parish hall. In the only place where the wall is clearly visible, the thickness is 6feet. Though indefinite these foundations seem to disclose an irregular angled curtain wall without flanking towers, and it is not impossible that these remains may represent a 13th century castle of enceinte of a simple type.
W D Simpson 1949.

Migvie Castle, as described by Simpson, consists of grass-covered footings only. The parish hall within the castle has been demolished.
Visited by OS (N K B) 5 September 1968.

Visible on air photographs AAS/93/03/G7/9-14, flown 15 February 1993. Copies hald by Grampian Regional Council.
Information from M Greig, Grampian Regional Council, March 1994; NMRS, MS/712/44.

Very little of Migvie Castle survives. For the most part the wall of the rectangular barmekin enclosure has been reduced to little more than grass-grown footings, and the interior has been heavily disturbed. The best-preserved section of the wall is at the W corner; it is mortar-bonded and measures about 1.8m in thickness by 1m in height.
Visited by RCAHMS (JRS, PC), 10 September 1997.

NJ 436 065 The castle was the capital messuage of the Lordship of Cromar and was first mentioned in a charter of 1268. It has been ruinous since at least 1843.
During November 1999 and January and February 2000, a detailed survey was carried out. The whole site had been disturbed by modern tracks, walls and fences, and at one time the village hall was located on part of the site. The castle walls were found to be vestigial and it was difficult to define a precise layout, although the view that it was of an irregular angled shape is probably correct.
A limited resistivity survey suggested the presence of internal features below present ground surface.
Copies of the plan and report have been lodged with the NMRS and Aberdeenshire SMR.
KC Cooper, D Anderson and D Irving 2000.

Scheduled as 'Migvie Castle... the visible remains of... the principal stronghold of the lordship of Cromar...'
Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 20 March 2007.

Bogdan and Bryce, N and I B D (1991) 'Castles, manors and 'town houses' survey', Discovery Excav Scot
Page(s): 33

Cooper, Anderson and Irving, K C, D and D (2000) 'Migive Castle, Aberdeenshire (Logie-Coldstone parish), castle', Discovery Excav Scot, vol.1
Page(s): 11

Scottish Castle Survey (1988) 'A directory of the owners and occupiers of the castles, manors and 'town houses' {c.1050-c.1707} of Scotland: Grampian Region', Aberdeen
Page(s): 49, no.105/8 Held at RCAHMS B.2.1.CAS