Cullykhan compresses more than two thousand years of settlement and defence onto a promontory reached by an isthmus only about 1.4 metres wide at its narrowest.
Quick facts
- Date
- Bronze Age to 20th century; excavated and surveyed 1963–72
- Architect / designer
- Many communities and military occupants across more than two millennia
- Type
- Multi-period promontory fort, Pictish site, castle, battery and watch post
- Designation
- Scheduled monument (SM11037)
- OS grid reference
- NJ 83780 66189
Architecture, archaeology and continuing use
The scheduled area extends across an irregular headland about 285 metres long. Excavation found successive ramparts, buildings and deposits, including vitrified defences, while the landform itself sharply limits approach.
Its story
Evidence begins in the Bronze Age and continues through an Iron Age fort, Pictish structure and medieval castle. A seventeenth-century bowling green, Fort Fiddes battery, recorded cannon, flagstaff and twentieth-century watch post added later military and social uses.
Why it is included
Scheduling recognises an exceptionally long and well-preserved sequence with strong potential to explain how defence and occupation changed along the Moray Firth coast.
What to notice
- The narrow land bridge connecting the headland.
- Earthworks from repeated defensive remodelling.
- How later positions reuse an older fortified landscape.
Reading the surroundings
Use only recognised paths and heed barriers or local advice. Do not cross exposed ground in poor conditions, climb masonry, move stone or disturb turf and archaeological deposits.
Timeline
- Bronze Age The earliest known activity began a long sequence on the headland.
- Iron Age Successive fortifications included a phase affected by intense heat.
- Medieval period A castle reused the strategic promontory.
- 18th–20th centuries Battery and watch-post functions returned military observation to the site.
What we know — and what remains uncertain
Partial excavation cannot supply a complete plan or exact chronology for every phase, and current path safety was not checked.
Sources & further reading
- Historic Environment Scotland: Cullykhan, Castle Point, SM11037 — Designation status, mapped location, date, fabric and architectural or archaeological interest.
- Trove designation: SM11037 — Parallel national record identity and archival context.
Location
OS grid reference NJ 83780 66189 · Location confidence: High: the national designation supplies an official mapped National Grid Reference; an additional source confirms record identity and archival context. · Select the marker to open its satellite view in Google Maps. On desktop, drag Pegman (the yellow figure) onto a blue road. On mobile, turn on the Street View layer and tap a blue road. Other photo markers may be user-contributed.
Suggest a marker correction
Suggest a more accurate position
The teal marker is the current published position. The orange marker starts slightly to its right so both remain visible; this is only a visual starting position. Tap the correct place on the map or drag the orange marker. Sending this form creates a private review entry only; it does not move the published marker.
Check this area in Google Maps Choose the Satellite layer there if useful.
Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors. You can also enter checked coordinates below.