Castlehill, Motte

The motte at Castlehill is one of those sites that makes you work for it, but rewards your effort with a proper sense of medieval Scotland. You're looking at an earthwork - a raised mound that would have supported wooden fortifications around 800 years ago - standing alone in the Aberdeenshire countryside just outside Banchory. It's the kind of place where you can actually picture it: a timber tower commanding the landscape, now reduced to bumps and hollows that take a moment's imagination to decode.

There's no visitor facility or interpretive board, so this isn't a polished attraction. You'll need to approach it on foot from the road, and the walk itself is pleasant enough through farmland. It's genuinely free and open year-round, which is the Scottish way with these archaeological sites. Plan on 30 minutes if you're just doing the mound itself, longer if you're the type to photograph it from every angle or sit about pondering medieval feudalism.

For history enthusiasts and walkers tackling Deeside, it's worth the detour. Kids will probably lose interest after five minutes unless they're already obsessed with castles and earthworks. If you're based at Feughside Caravan Park or Banchory Lodge Caravan Park nearby, it makes a decent leg-stretcher between longer rambles. Best visited in dry conditions - soggy fields don't improve anyone's archaeological experience - and early morning or late afternoon gives you better light for photography. It's understated, untroubled by tourists, and exactly what a Scottish motte should be.