Cowie Castle is a ruined fortress in
AberdeenshireAberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives...
,
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The site lies at the northern end of
StonehavenStonehaven is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland...
near the
North SeaThe North Sea is a marginal, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf. The Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north connect it to the Atlantic Ocean. It is more than long and wide, with an area of around...
coast. To the immediate south is the
Cowie BridgeCowie Bridge is a roadway bridge across the Cowie Water in Stonehaven, Scotland near the river's mouth at the North Sea. This construction is a listed historical structure in Aberdeenshire. Historically the area in the vicinity of the Cowie Bridge site has been an old fishing village known as...
crossing of the
Cowie WaterThe Cowie Water is a river rising in the Grampian Mountains in Aberdeenshire, Scotland that discharges to the North Sea in the northern part of Stonehaven. south of the ruined Cowie Castle...
. Evidence of prehistoric man exists in the vicinity dating to the
Iron AgeIn archaeology, the Iron Age is the prehistoric period in any area during which cutting tools and weapons were mainly made of iron or steel. The adoption of this material coincided with other changes in society, including differing agricultural practices, religious beliefs and artistic styles.The...
in the form of
ring cairnsA cairn is a manmade pile of stones, often in a conical form. They are usually found in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops or near waterways.-Purpose:...
. Other nearby castles are the ruined
Dunnottar CastleDunnottar Castle is a ruined medieval fortress located upon a precipitous rocky headland on the north-east coast of Scotland, about two miles south of Stonehaven. Its surviving buildings are largely of the 15th-16th centuries, but an important fortress certainly existed on this site from Dark Age...
to the south,
Fetteresso CastleFetteresso Castle is a 14th century towerhouse, 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 slightly to the west of the A90 dual carriageway...
to the southwest, and
Muchalls CastleMuchalls Castle stands overlooking the North Sea in the countryside of Kincardine and Mearns, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The lower course is a well preserved double groined 13th century towerhouse structure, built by the Frasers of Muchalls. Upon this structure, the 17th century castle was begun by...
to the north. St. Nathalan is said to have founded the ruined
Chapel of St. Mary and St. NathalanThe Chapel of St. Mary and St. Nathalan is a ruined chapel overlooking the North Sea immediately north of Stonehaven, Scotland along the northern shoreline of Stonehaven Bay. The founding of this Catholic place of worship is associated with St. Nathalan. who lived circa 650 AD. The structure is...
immediately north of the Cowie Castle site.
The ancient
Causey MounthThe 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 continued to function as the principal route connecting these...
trackwayA trackway is an ancient route of travel for people and/or animals. In biology, a trackway can be a set of impressions in the soft earth, usually a set of footprints, left by an animal. A fossil trackway is the fossilized imprint of a trackway. Trackways have been found all over the world...
was developed at least as early as the eleventh century AD to connect the coastal portion of Stonehaven to a crossing of the
River DeeThe River Dee is a river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It rises in the Cairngorms and flows through Strathdee to reach the North Sea at Aberdeen.-Geography:...
at the southern edge of Aberdeen.
Cowie Castle is a ruined fortress in
AberdeenshireAberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives...
,
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The site lies at the northern end of
StonehavenStonehaven is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland...
near the
North SeaThe North Sea is a marginal, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf. The Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north connect it to the Atlantic Ocean. It is more than long and wide, with an area of around...
coast. To the immediate south is the
Cowie BridgeCowie Bridge is a roadway bridge across the Cowie Water in Stonehaven, Scotland near the river's mouth at the North Sea. This construction is a listed historical structure in Aberdeenshire. Historically the area in the vicinity of the Cowie Bridge site has been an old fishing village known as...
crossing of the
Cowie WaterThe Cowie Water is a river rising in the Grampian Mountains in Aberdeenshire, Scotland that discharges to the North Sea in the northern part of Stonehaven. south of the ruined Cowie Castle...
. Evidence of prehistoric man exists in the vicinity dating to the
Iron AgeIn archaeology, the Iron Age is the prehistoric period in any area during which cutting tools and weapons were mainly made of iron or steel. The adoption of this material coincided with other changes in society, including differing agricultural practices, religious beliefs and artistic styles.The...
in the form of
ring cairnsA cairn is a manmade pile of stones, often in a conical form. They are usually found in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops or near waterways.-Purpose:...
. Other nearby castles are the ruined
Dunnottar CastleDunnottar Castle is a ruined medieval fortress located upon a precipitous rocky headland on the north-east coast of Scotland, about two miles south of Stonehaven. Its surviving buildings are largely of the 15th-16th centuries, but an important fortress certainly existed on this site from Dark Age...
to the south,
Fetteresso CastleFetteresso Castle is a 14th century towerhouse, 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 slightly to the west of the A90 dual carriageway...
to the southwest, and
Muchalls CastleMuchalls Castle stands overlooking the North Sea in the countryside of Kincardine and Mearns, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The lower course is a well preserved double groined 13th century towerhouse structure, built by the Frasers of Muchalls. Upon this structure, the 17th century castle was begun by...
to the north. St. Nathalan is said to have founded the ruined
Chapel of St. Mary and St. NathalanThe Chapel of St. Mary and St. Nathalan is a ruined chapel overlooking the North Sea immediately north of Stonehaven, Scotland along the northern shoreline of Stonehaven Bay. The founding of this Catholic place of worship is associated with St. Nathalan. who lived circa 650 AD. The structure is...
immediately north of the Cowie Castle site.
Strategic location
The ancient
Causey MounthThe 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 continued to function as the principal route connecting these...
trackwayA trackway is an ancient route of travel for people and/or animals. In biology, a trackway can be a set of impressions in the soft earth, usually a set of footprints, left by an animal. A fossil trackway is the fossilized imprint of a trackway. Trackways have been found all over the world...
was developed at least as early as the eleventh century AD to connect the coastal portion of Stonehaven to a crossing of the
River DeeThe River Dee is a river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It rises in the Cairngorms and flows through Strathdee to reach the North Sea at Aberdeen.-Geography:...
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 MuchallsThe 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...
at the
Bridge of MuchallsBridge 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....
and thence proceeds northward past Muchalls Castle. The trackway passes the ruins of the
EpiscopalThe Bishop of Aberdeen was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Aberdeen, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th century cleric named Nechtan. It appears that the episcopal seat had previously been at Mortlach , but was moved to Aberdeen during...
Chapels, dating to 1624 situated on lands of the Muchalls Castle Estate, and thence northerly crossing through the boggy
Portlethen MossThe Portlethen Moss is an acidic bog nature reserve in the coastal Grampian region in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Like other mosses, this wetland area supports a variety of plant and animal species, even though it has been subject to certain development and agricultural degradation pressures...
(which had a much larger historic extent than present). Cowie Castle is also situated near the southern end of the
Elsick MounthThe 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 of the route is attained within the Durris Forest...
, another strategic route used by the Romans in their northern invasion and also instrumental in subsequent eras' milirary movements.