Building record MAB39392 - KINCARDINE CASTLE

Remains of castle, dating from the 13th century AD.

Remains of castle, dating from the 13th century AD. It is of simple curtain wall type on a quadrangular plan with rectangular gate-towers on the south and a thick outer wall with sloping plinth. Remains of apartments lie round three sides of the interior. Outside the castle to the east and south is a scarp which could be the remains of an original defence, mutilated by trees and now overgrown. According to Cruden the history of the castle goes back to the 12th century AD which suggests that the present castle had a predecessor. The Royal castle and manor were mentioned in 1212 and again in 1296. The castle is supposed to be of great antiquity and to have been occupied by Kenneth III, Alexander the Lion, Alexander III, Edward I and Robert II. The castle was granted to William, Earl of Sutherland in 1346 and does not seem to have reverted to the crown, although Robert II dated a charter there in 1383, when presumably the castle was still habitable. Nothing is known thereafter except that the property was broken up and that the castle and park passed to the Strachans of Thornton in 1475. Excavation was carried out at the castle in 2013 as part of the Scottish medieval parks project. A trench was excavated across the range of buildings on the south side of the courtyard. Material of probable medieval date was recovered from under demolition rubble, a sample of animal bone giving a radiocarbon date of 1039 - 1022 AD. The floor surface revealed suggested a utilitarian function possibly as a guard room adjacent to the entrance. A programme of landscape, buildings and materials analysis is being carried out as part of the Scottish Medieval Castles and Chapels C14 project. Initial work in 2018 highlighted the potential for analysis of constructional masonry mortar to inform understanding of the building's construction and chronology. A sampling programme and subsequent analysis confirmed that this was wood-fired limestone-lime mortar and suggested it had been sourced from a local metamorphic rock outcrop.

Period Notes
Used by Kenneth III at time of his murder in 994. Present ruins are 13thC. First Royal charter granted by Alexander I to the town of Stirling, was dated "at Kyncardyn, 18th August 1119" Mentioned in 1212 and again 1296 with the drafting of John Balliol's redignation of the crown. David II stayed there in 1341. Robert II held his courts there and issued charters dated 1371, 1375 and 1383. James IV paid visits in 1507 and 1511. Queen Mary halted at the castle on her tour in 1562. The Strachans of Thornton occupied the castle, by charter of James VI, from 1601 till its demolition in 1646. Radiocarbon date from excavations 2013, sample from pig bone: SUERC-48407 (GU31683) - 885 +/- 34 BP (calibrated to 1039 - 1022 AD, calculated using OxCal 4.2, 28/10/13). Radiocarbon date SUERC-49788 (GU32352) from animal bone - 277 +/- 30 BP, calibrated to 1513-1797 AD (calculated using OxCal 4.2, 14/05/14). MERLF (wood-charcoal mortar-entrapped relict limekiln fuels) samples: SUERC-84391 903+/-24, calibrated to 1039-1206 AD; SUERC-84392, 850+/-21, calibrated to 1155-1250 AD; SUERC-84392, 949+/-24, calibrated to 1025-1155 AD.

Author unknown, , PRESS & JOURNAL, 10/04/1993 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1416.

MACGIBBON, D, 1892, THE CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE OF SCOTLAND, 1-5, 111-2 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1140.

CAMERON, AC, 1899, HISTORY OF FETTERCAIRN, 146-9 (Bibliographic reference). SAB214.

WATT, JC, 1914, MEARNS OF OLD, 168, 170 (Bibliographic reference). SAB2005.

CRUDEN, SH, 1960, THE SCOTTISH CASTLE , 51 (Bibliographic reference). SAB247.

DOE, 1966, A M's SCOT, 26 (Bibliographic reference). SAB353.

RENN, D, 1968, NORMAN CASTLES IN BRITAIN, 216 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1570.

HALL, D, 2013, EXCAVATIONS AT KINCARDINE CASTLE, ABERDEENSHIRE, 2013, Excav report (Bibliographic reference). SAB4418.

HALL, D, 2013, SCOTTISH MEDIEVAL DEER PARKS PROJECT: PROJECT DESIGN FOR KINCARDINE CASTLE, ABERDEENSHIRE, Project design (Bibliographic reference). SAB4420.

ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND, 2014, DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION IN SCOTLAND, NEW SERIES, VOLUME 14, 2013, p.21-22 (Bibliographic reference). SAB5483.

ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND, 2019, DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION IN SCOTLAND, NEW SERIES, VOLUME 19, 2018, p. 15 (Bibliographic reference). SAB6524.

THACKER, M, 2020, DATING MEDIEVAL MASONRY BUILDINGS BY RC ANALYSIS OF MORTAR-ENTRAPPED RELICT LIMEKILN FUELS IN JOURNAL OF ARCH METHOD AND THEORY (Bibliographic reference). SAB1996.

Feb 3 2011 , DG3054-82, DG3054-82 (Ground Photograph). SAB13146.

Jul 7 1984 , AAS/84/02/R4/13-4, AAS/84/02/R4/13-4 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB15434.

Jul 21 1976 , CAE 61-4, CAE 61-4 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB15436.

Jul 25 1975 , BVC 73-4, BVC 73-4 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB15435.

RCAHMS, n.d., S KINC LIST, No238 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1512.

Record last edited

Jun 20 2023 12:16PM