Cowie Castle is a ruined

fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The site lies at the northern end of

Stonehaven Stonehaven ( , ) is a town in Scotland. It lies on Scotland's northeast coast and had a population of 11,602 at the 2011 Census. After the demise of the town of Kincardine, which was gradually abandoned after the destruction of its royal cast ...

on the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

coast. To the immediate south is the

Cowie Bridge Cowie Bridge is a roadway bridge which carries the B979 across the mouth of the Cowie Water in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Historically, the area in the vicinity of the Cowie Bridge site has been an old fishing village known as Cowi ...

crossing of the

Cowie Water The Cowie Water ( gd, Uisge Chollaidh) is a river of Scotland. Geography The river rises in the Grampian Mountains in Kincardineshire, and discharges to the North Sea in the northern part of Stonehaven,United Kingdom Ordnance Survey Map Landra ...

. Evidence of

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

man exists in the vicinity dating to the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

in the form of ring cairns.

Strategic location

The ancient

Causey Mounth The Causey Mounth is an ancient drovers' road over the coastal fringe of the Grampian Mountains in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. This route was developed as the main highway between Stonehaven and Aberdeen around the 12th century AD and it continue ...

trackway Historic roads (historic trails in USA and Canada) are paths or routes that have historical importance due to their use over a period of time. Examples exist from prehistoric times until the early 20th century. They include ancient trackway ...

was developed at least as early as the eleventh century AD to connect the coastal portion of Stonehaven to a crossing of the River Dee at the southern edge of Aberdeen. This strategic route in the Middle Ages fit with the coastal defences of the fortresses of Dunnottar Castle and Cowie Castle, controlling land and sea movements of military units. Cowie Castle at the north of Stonehaven effectively controlled all coastal land and sea movements to the north. Proceeding north from Cowie Castle, the Causey Mounth crosses the

Burn of Muchalls The Burn of Muchalls is an easterly flowing stream in Aberdeenshire, Scotland that discharges to the North Sea. Its point of discharge is on a rocky beach set with scenic sea stacks. Flowing principally over agricultural lands, the Burn of Mu ...

at the

Bridge of Muchalls Bridge of Muchalls is an entirely residential hamlet in Aberdeenshire, Scotland by the North Sea. It is on the A90 dual carriageway about three miles north of Stonehaven and to the south of Muchalls Castle. This small hamlet is known for its ...

and thence proceeds northward past Muchalls Castle. The trackway passes the ruins of the

Episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United State ...

Chapels, dating to 1624 situated on the lands of the Muchalls Castle Estate, and thence northerly crossing through the boggy

Portlethen Moss The Portlethen Moss is an acidic bog nature reserve located to the west of the town of Portlethen, Aberdeenshire in Scotland. Like other Bog, mosses, this wetland area supports a variety of plant and animal species, even though it has been subjec ...

(which had a much larger historic extent than present). Cowie Castle is also situated near the southern end of the

Elsick Mounth The Elsick Mounth is an ancient trackway crossing the Grampian Mountains in the vicinity of Netherley, Scotland. This trackway was one of the few means of traversing the Grampian Mounth area in prehistoric and medieval times. The highest pass ...

, another strategic route used by the Romans in their northern invasion and also instrumental in subsequent eras' military movements. Other nearby castles are the ruined

Dunnottar Castle Dunnottar Castle ( gd, Dùn Fhoithear, "fort on the shelving slope") is a ruined medieval fortress located upon a rocky headland on the north-eastern coast of Scotland, about south of Stonehaven. The surviving buildings are largely of the 1 ...

to the south,

Fetteresso Castle Fetteresso Castle is a 14th-century tower house, rebuilt in 1761 as a Scottish Gothic style Palladian manor, with clear evidence of prehistoric use of the site. It is situated immediately west of the town of Stonehaven in Kincardineshire, slightl ...

to the south-west and

Muchalls Castle Muchalls Castle stands overlooking the North Sea in the countryside of Kincardine and Mearns, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The lower course is a well-preserved Romanesque, double-groined 13th-century tower house structure, built by the Frasers of ...

to the north. St. Nathalan is said to have founded the ruined

Chapel of St. Mary and St. Nathalan The Chapel of St. Mary and St. Nathalan is a ruined chapel overlooking the North Sea immediately north of Stonehaven, in the Mearns of Scotland, along the northern shoreline of Stonehaven Bay. (Watt, 1985) The founding of this Christian place o ...

immediately north of the Cowie Castle site.

The castle

Cowie is thought to have been the site of a royal hunting lodge in the Middle Ages, and may have served as a royal lodging during progresses through the north-east of Scotland. Only a small section of masonry survives today on the site, which is a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

References

{{reflist Stonehaven Ruined castles in Aberdeenshire Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Aberdeenshire Castles in Aberdeenshire

Strategic location

The castle

See also

References