SRP Archaeology Notes
Date 10 May 2011
Event ID 627883
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Srp Note
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/627883
The E gable wall of the building still stands to full height and the W gable, which is more ruinous, stands to just below chimney height. The window openings in both gables suggest that it was two storeys high with a loft, with first floor dormers on the S face. The N wall stands up to 1.7m high, but the S wall is reduced to low stone footings. Some of the fallen stone has been retained around the building.
There are the remains of bartizans (overhanging, wall-mounted turrets) on the NW and SE corners of the building. The SE corner may have had a wheel stair. The stone on the left of the fireplace (W wall) is incised with an inscription similar to that at the other Gordon of Avochie castle, Auchanachie, which lies two miles to the W (NJ44NE 1.00).
John Gordon of Avochie was a notable Jacobite and hid for a time in the castle after Culloden - he escaped capture at one stage by jumping out of a window. The house was apparently blown up by government troops.
Historical source: Memoirs of the Rebellion 1745–1746 by The Chevalier de Johnstone [aide de camps to Lord George Murray] (London: 1820) Translated from a French manuscript.
Information from SRP Rothiemay, May 2011.
