Scheduled MonumentsScotlandInshoch House, tower house 70m NNW of
Tower house

Inshoch House, tower house 70m NNW of

Scotland
HES SM1234
Site type
Tower house
Nation
Scotland
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic Environment Scotland

Overview

History & significance

Inshoch House is a tower house situated in Nairnshire, standing some 70 metres north-north-west of its associated steading. The structure represents a characteristic defensive dwelling of the Scottish Lowlands, built to withstand the raids and local conflicts that persisted across the region during the medieval and early modern periods. Tower houses of this type typically comprised a narrow, vertically-stacked arrangement of rooms within a stone-built rectangular or L-shaped plan, with thick walls designed to resist attack and provide secure storage for valuables and provisions.

The tower house stands on bedrock composed of Upper Old Red Sandstone, a formation dating to the Late Devonian period. This conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone geology is characteristic of much of the surrounding Nairnshire landscape, and would have provided locally-quarried building stone for the tower's construction. The underlying solid geology creates a naturally drained site, important for the long-term stability of such substantial stone structures.

Inshoch House is protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM1234, acknowledging its significance as a surviving example of tower-house architecture within the region. The monument and its associated steading together form an important record of rural settlement patterns and domestic fortification practices in the Scottish countryside.

Inshoch House, tower house 70m NNW of is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM1234. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Inshoch House, tower house 70m NNW of?

Inshoch House is a tower house situated in Nairnshire, standing some 70 metres north-north-west of its associated steading. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM1234.

Who is responsible for protecting Inshoch House, tower house 70m NNW of?

Inshoch House, tower house 70m NNW of is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic Environment Scotland — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Scotland. The official designation reference is SM1234.

What other scheduled monuments are near Inshoch House, tower house 70m NNW of?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Meadowfield,enclosure 400m ENE of (1.4 km), Auldearn, old parish chuch (2 km), Mains of Moyness,Moyness Castle (3.2 km).

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Everything a full report reveals about Inshoch House, tower house 70m NNW of

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Inshoch House, tower house 70m NNW of's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Stat Accounts
The parish Statistical Accounts of the 1790s and 1830s, describing life, work and population here.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Inshoch House, tower house 70m NNW of

Inshoch House, tower house 70m NNW of stands on Upper Old Red Sandstone, bedrock that formed in the Late Devonian. The rock here is conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.