title: Scheduled monuments in North Ayrshire
text: # Scheduled monuments in North Ayrshire
  
  A scheduled monument in Scotland is a nationally important archaeological site or monument which is given legal protection by being placed on a list (or "schedule") maintained by Historic Environment Scotland. The aim of scheduling is to preserve the country's most significant sites and monuments as far as possible in the form in which they have been inherited.
  
  The process of scheduling is governed by the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, which aims "to make provision for the investigation, preservation and recording of matters of archaeological or historical interest". The term "scheduled monument" can apply to the whole range of archaeological sites which have been deliberately constructed by human activity but are not always visible above ground. They range from prehistoric standing stones and burial sites, through Roman remains and medieval structures such as castles and monasteries, to later structures such as industrial sites and buildings constructed for the World Wars. Some buildings or structures which were both scheduled and listed have had their listing designations removed to reduce the duplication.
  
  In 2017 there were 8,238 scheduled monuments in Scotland.
  
  ## Notable scheduled monuments in North Ayrshire
  
  | Name | Location | Description | Ref No |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | Fairlie Castle | Largs | Restored oblong tower castle | SM317 |
  | Glengarnock Castle | Kilbirnie | Ruined castle | SM318 |
  | Seagate Castle | Irvine | Ruined 16th-century castle | SM320 |
  | Portencross Castle | Portencross | Ruined L-plan 14th-century stronghold | SM327 |
  | Giants' Graves, Arran | Kilbride, Isle of Arran | Two chambered Clyde type long cairns | SM398 |
  | Meallach's Grave | Kilbride | Long cairn in Monamore Glen | SM403 |
  | Little Cumbrae Lighthouse | Cumbrae | Ruined 200-year-old coal-fire lighthouse | SM418 |
  | Little Cumbrae Castle | Cumbrae | Ruined 14th-century tower on an islet | SM2195 |
  | Haylie House Cairn | Largs | Neolithic chambered cairn near Haylie House | SM2482 |
  | Ardrossan Castle | Ardrossan | Ruined 15th-century hilltop castle | SM3383 |
  | Montfode Castle | Ardrossan | Ruined 16th-century tower | SM5816 |
  | Auchagallon Stone Circle | Machrie, Kilmory, Arran | Bronze Age kerbed cairn resembling a stone circle | SM90023 |
  | Carn Ban | Kilmory, Arran | Long Neolithic chambered cairn | SM90051 |
  | Kilwinning Abbey | Kilwinning | Ruins of a Tironensian Abbey | SM90187 |
  | Lochranza Castle | Kilmory, Arran | Ruined 13th/14th-century castle | SM90206 |
  | Torrylin Cairn | Kilmory, Arran | Neolithic chambered cairn | SM90307 |
  