Trochrie Castle (2)
The architecture need not concern us long - there isn't much to see!  Part of a round tower is all that remains, with the beginnings of a straight wall extending north of it, in the long grass on the far side.  Various reports state that Trochrie was built as a small Z-plan tower-house.  If so, and given the proximity of the river to the north, it is fair to assume that the round tower was the south-east corner tower; the straight wall was the east gable of the main block, and the rest, long gone, was to the left as we look at it here - roughly as I have drawn it.*  

Where the near wall (red line) of the main block joins the remaining tower, there appears to be a loosely walled up gap, that looks like the doorway, with a gun-loop in the wall to its right.  If that is correct, then this would be the stair-tower.  Canmore have a 1975 report stating that 'Several portions of a spiral stairway show through the interior debris'.  There are no 'portions' visible here (nor is there in their 1975 photo that I can see), however this would tend to reinforce the idea that this was the stair-tower.

That the castle was of the Z-plan is questionable.  Mid-16th century is early for Z-plans, and given the lack of evidence for a north-west tower, an L-plan tower-house is more likely.

(*I just confirmed the orientation of the main block with the 1864 Ordnance Survey map of Strathbraan.)


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