Archaeology Notes

Event ID 665158

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/665158

NJ04NW 8 00700 48103

(NJ 0070 4810) Dunphail Castle (NR) (Remains of)

OS 6" map, Morayshire, 2nd ed., (1906).

Dunphail Castle existed before 1314, but the period of the present remains is not stated: a note on the remains in 1879 suggests barrel vaulting.

H B Mackintosh 1924.

Dunphail Castle occupies the S end of Castle Hill. The S and W portions of the castle have been reduced by the erosion of the steep slopes. The NE tower is fully extant, while the NW tower is in ruins. The SW site is composed of three separate compartments, each one measuring 6.0m by 5.0m with barrel vaulting.

There are two arched entrances on the SE side of the castle, one at the NE tower and the other immediately S of the barrel vaulted-rooms. These buildings occupy a higher elevation than the forecourt, the limits of which are delineated by an earthern bank, 0.3m high. No date could be ascribed to the Castle, but the NE tower is 16th to 17th century

Revised at 1/2500.

Visited by OS(RB) 2 September 1965.