Building record MAB23542 - CASTLE OF DUNDARG

Remains of promontory fort and later castle, also known as Dundarg Castle.

Remains of promontory fort and later castle, also known as Dundarg Castle. The prehistoric phase of Dundarg consists of multiple outer ditches and banks, bone-rich midden deposits, probable postholes on the promontory itself, together with worked flints and an enamelled bronze button with a swastika symbol dated to the 3rd or 4th Century AD. The inner ditch of the fort was widened to form a later castle moat.

The castle was built in the 13th Century by Comyns and dismantled, probably by Bruce, in 1308. It was rebuilt in 1334 and destroyed almost immediately afterwards in a famous siege which was broken by the use of a cannon, the first known example of such cannonade in Scotland. The inner gatehouse survives though there is some evidence that it was partially rebuilt and provided with gun-loops in the 1550s. The site was finally abandoned in the mid-17th Century.

Antiquarian authorities have discussed the presence of building foundations on the rock of the castle, extending to the boundary wall. An arched gateway is sited at the southern edge of the rock, a portion of which was destroyed by lightening in 1873. There was likely a portcullis to south of the gateway on a narrow neck of rock. What have been referred to as ‘the outworks’ by antiquarian authors lie just to the south of the possible portcullis and extend for circa 36.5 metres before terminating in another gateway. It has been suggested that there was also a gateway on the inner side of the outworks.

Beyond ‘the outworks’ there is a triple rampart which has also been described as a triple ditch. The first rampart is partly earthwork (3 metres in depth) and partly walled (1.5 metres in depth). Beyond this rampart is the first ditch or moat measuring 6.1 metres wide, and, at the point where a drawbridge had been, 3.66 metres deep. Landward are two more ramparts and dry ditches.

Excavations were carried out by D. Fordyce between the winter of 1911 and the spring of 1912. This involved excavating the promontory fort (which Fordyce described as a probable ‘inner sanctuary’), the castle, ‘the outworks’, and the first moat (beyond the first gateway).

The 1911-1912 excavations on the promontory revealed the general structure of building foundations, and three coins were recovered. Two of the coins were lion rampant, with ‘I. R.’ inscribed on the obverse, and belonged to the reign of James VI, issued in 1589. They are not copper, but billon, an alloy of copper and silver. The third coin is so defaced that it is impossible to accurately to determine its date, but it is probably a silver penny of the reign of Edward I, struck in the London Mint. A deer's horn was found on the neck of earth and rock between the Castle rock and ‘the outworks’.

The 1911-1912 excavations found evidence for various buildings in the outworks, some of them probably for cattle or horses. One building near the north end seems to have been a round tower, measuring 2.44 metres in diameter. Below the foundation stones of the round tower a ‘kitchen-midden’ was uncovered containing layers of shells such as periwinkle. The foundations of the tower had been built atop of the kitchen-midden.

The largest number of finds were recovered from the enclosure (between the north and south gateways of ‘the outworks’) during the 1911-1912 excavations, these included: a button, a hairpin, a bracelet, a finger ring, a horseshoe, and a smith's tongs, large quantities of potsherds, and small quantities of coal or lignite. Bones of goats, sheep, and other animals were also found, including a goat’s head and a sheep’s head. A killer whale jawbone was recovered at the north end of the outer enclosure, beside the gateway leading on to the narrow neck. An Inverness cooper coin/trade token (dated 1793), and several, decayed, large, unidentifiable coins or medals were also recovered from the outer enclosure. One of the decayed coins is inscribed with the word ‘India’. D. Fordyce suggested that other finds from the same enclosure, including balls, stone whorls, a hammer stone, and a flint borer, may relate to an early Celtic fortification of the site.

Several other finds were also recovered during the 1911-1912 excavations, these included: melted lead, a small horseshoe, a piece of leather, a piece of thick rope, a steel arrowhead, a portion of a head of a spear or battle-axe, and a bullock horn.

Simpson believed that Dundarg was the 'Cathair of Abbordobor' which Mormaer Bede the Pict made over to St. Drostan on his arrival at Aberdour in the 6th Century AD, as narrated in The Book of Deer. Simpson considered the Celtic chapel to be represented by foundations of a building set at right angles to other buildings in the inner ward, however this has not been proven.

A house (Category B Listed) was built on part of the site by Air Vice Marshall Carnegie between 1937-1938 (see MAB23570).

ABD/521/1, ABD/521/1 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB14685.

Author unknown, , PRESS & JOURNAL, 05/08/78 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1416.

Author unknown, , PRESS & JOURNAL, 13/10/78 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1416.

Author unknown, , PRESS & JOURNAL, 20/10/78 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1416.

MACGIBBON, D, 1892, THE CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE OF SCOTLAND, 1-5, 390 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1140.

BEVERIDGE, W, 1914, PSAS 48(1913-14) 184-92, 184-92 (Bibliographic reference). SAB88.

SIMPSON, WD, 1954, DUNDARG CASTLE, AB UNI ST No131 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1686.

SIMPSON, WD, 1960, T BANFF FC 17,4, 9-25, 9-25 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1689.

CRUDEN, SH, 1960, THE SCOTTISH CASTLE , 202 (Bibliographic reference). SAB247.

SHEPHERD, I A G, 1983, PICTISH SETTLEMENT PROBLEMS IN NE SCOTLAND. IN: CHAPMAN, J & MYTUM, H (EDS) SETTLEMENT IN NORTH BRITAIN – 1000BC-1000AD, 327-56 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1630.

FOJUT, N, 1983, THE DEFENCES OF DUNDARG CASTLE. PSAS 113(1982-3) 449-56, 449-56 (Bibliographic reference). SAB509.

REES, SE, 1984, A WOODEN ARD-SHARE FROM DUNDARG, ABERDEENSHIRE, WITH A NOTE ON OTHER WOODEN PLOUGH PIECES. IN PSAS 113 (1983), 457-463, PSAS 113, 457-63 (Bibliographic reference). SAB3087.

SCOTTISH MONUMENTS SURVEY, 1990, JAMES GILES - ABERDEENSHIRE CASTLES, p.9 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1738.

BOGDAN, N, 2008, EARLY CASTLES OF ABERDEENSHIRE (Bibliographic reference). SAB3811.

Apr 3 1981 , PR 10'S, PR 10'S (Ground Photograph). SAB14686.

Aug 9 1977 , AAS/77/11/SR/31-8, AAS/77/11/SR/31-8 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB14683.

Aug 19 1981 , AAS/81/11/S10/33-6, AAS/81/11/S10/33-6 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB14684.

Aug 23 1981 , AAS/81/11/CT 11,33,52, AAS/81/11/CT 11,33,52 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB18688.

Aug 23 1981 , AAS/81/11/CT 56,62, AAS/81/11/CT 56,62 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB18689.

Jan 1 1977 , AAS/GR/77/CT181-83,185-86, AAS/GR/77/CT181-83,185-86 (Ground Photograph). SAB32518.

Jan 1 1977 , AAS/GR/77/CT217, AAS/GR/77/CT217 (Ground Photograph). SAB33062.

Jan 19 1990 , JQ 4, JQ 4 (Ground Photograph). SAB33759.

Jan 25 1991 , AAS/91/2/CT7, 9, AAS/91/2/CT7, 9 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB19526.

Jul 30 2010 , DG2067-9, DG2067-9 (Ground Photograph). SAB13175.

May 9 1978 , AV 15-23, AV 15-23 (Ground Photograph). SAB33274.

Author unknown, n.d., EVENING EXPRESS, 20/03/95 (Bibliographic reference). SAB446.

Oct 9 1997 , AAS/97/12/CT96-98, AAS/97/12/CT96-98 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB16840.

Oct 9 1997 , AAS/97/12/G25/28-30, AAS/97/12/G25/28-30 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB16839.

Record last edited

Sep 23 2026 3:38PM