Monument record MHG8026 - Newmore Castle

Newmore Castle (NR) (AD 1625) (In Ruins)
OS 6" map, Ross-shire, 2nd ed., (1907)

The ruins consist of small square apartment with an arched roof. It is surrounded by an orchard. A stone bearing date of erection was removed and built into wall on W side of gate at entrance to Newmore. No info can be obtained, except that it was built in 1625 by a Munro of Newmore.
Name Book 1874. <1>

The remains of castle consist of a rectangular building measuring 10.9m NE-SW by 7.3m transversely, with a stair turret at its E corner. Only ground floor of castle remains, consisting of 3 small barrel vaulted rooms in fair condition and it would appear that there are no vaults or cellars below. The walls of castle are c 0.8m thick and stand to a height of c.2.5m with tower 6-7m high. The walls of castle and stair-tower are liberally provided with arrow-slits and gun-loops. No trace was found of the stone bearing the date 1625. Inquiries at Newmore House proved negative.
Visited by OS (W D J) 11 May 1963.

Desk-based research, including the area of the castle, was undertaken during a watching brief for the construction of a new house at Tignnalios, immediately adjacent to the site. The documentary information for the castle is poor, and most authors only refer to it as being in a ruinous state. A market garden extended up to the walls of the castle until the 1970s.

A basic ground-plan of the castle was produced by RCAHMS in the early 1980s.

It is often not depicted on maps of the area, perhaps indicating that it was only founded by a junior
cadet of the Munro family, and overshadowed by the history and family of nearby Foulis Castle. The castle/tower is likely to have existed from the 1580s and was altered in 1625, and went out of use possibly in the late 18th century or the early 19th century. No archaeological features associated with the castle were recorded in the watching brief. <2>