Archaeology Notes

Event ID 668497

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/668497

NJ52NW 14.00 51315 26403

NJ52NW 14.01 5102 2644 Home Farm

NJ52NW 14.02 5127 2710 Mains of Druminnor

NJ52NW 14.03 5127 2693 Mains of Druminnor Cottages

NJ52NW 14.04 5081 2639 kennels

NJ52NW 14.05 5119 2624 West Lodge

NJ52NW 14.06 51512 26602 East Lodge and gate piers

NJ52NW 14.07 51231 26327 Garden Cottage

NJ52NW 14.08 51369 26417 Garden and garden walls

NJ52NW 14.09 51523 26538 Graveyard

(NJ 5130 2639) Druminnor House (NAT)

OS 6" map, (1959)

For previous history of Druminnor House and the derivation of its name see NJ52NW 22.

The original rectangular keep-tower of Druminnor, built by Alexander, 1st Lord Forbes in 1440 and licensed on May 4th, 1456, still remains basically as it was built. It was slighted after the battle of Tillyangus in 1571 and repaired in 1577, the latter date being cut on a stone above the door arch bearing the arms of William, 7th Lord Forbes - 1547 to 1594 - set in the circular staircase tower which was probably an addition at that time. Attached to the older building is a wing erected in 1815. The old castle is being restored to its original state by the owner, Miss Forbes-Sempill.

Simpson (1949) believed that the original building had been destroyed and he quotes a description by John Leyden in 1800, recorded by Sinton (1903), wherein he states that he saw 'the ruins of Drummenir Tower which the proprietor had demolished ... It consisted of a square united to half a square, which contained the staircase.'

MacGibbon and Ross (1887-92) name it as 'Druminnor Castle'.

J F Wyness 1959; W D Simpson 1949; J Leyden 1903; D MacGibbon and T Ross 1887-92.

Druminnor Castle, as described and planned by Wyness (1959), has now been restored to its original condition.

Visited by OS (RL) 21 September 1967.

(Location cited as NJ 5130 2639 and classified as Site of Regional Significance). Only the staircase tower and hall block remain of a much larger building, a great palace-house similar to Huntly Castle (NJ54SW 9). The great square tower was demolished in 1800 after which a Baronial villa was built in 1815, which was in its turn demolished in 1960. Only the foundations remain of the extensive courtyard ranges. Now restored to its former condition wherever possible.

Masons: John Kemlock and William of Ennerkype, 1440: architect, Archibald Simpson, 1815.

Memorandum dated 4 July 1440; livence dated 4 May 1456; sacked 1571; alterations 1577 and 1843.

NMRS, MS/712/35.

NJ 513 264 A programme of survey and recording was undertaken of the archaeology revealed in a series of trenches. These trenches had already been dug by the owner, with the intention of locating and assessing an extensive system of drains around the castle in the hope that these excavations would provide a solution to recent drainage problems that had been encountered. Initial site inspection showed that a wide range of archaeological features and deposits had been exposed.

Archive to be deposited in the NMRS.

Sponsor: Mr Alexander Forbes.

G Ewart and D Murray 2002

NJ 5131 2640 Watching briefs were kept during remedial works to combat drainage problems within and around the hall range, which is all that survives above ground of this mid-15th-century castle. This work was a continuation of a project started in 2001 to locate and unblock drains distributed around the castle's exterior (DES 2002, 8). In addition, a large trench was opened at the SW corner of the building to allow it to be strengthened by concrete buttressing. Excavation revealed the massive rubble foundations of the castle and evidence of a sequence of post-glacial processes associated with the nearby Kearn Burn.

A small trench was opened to determine whether any remains of a putative tower survived below a 19th-century mansion house that had been built against the NW corner of the castle, but which was demolished in the 1960s. No trace of either building was uncovered.

A trench, 12m N/S by 6.5m, was opened beyond the E wall of the castle to investigate several masonry features partially exposed on earlier occasions, and to determine whether this steeply sloping area had been terraced at some stage. Three walls of some antiquity were uncovered towards the N end of the trench, one of them

quite possibly a garden terrace wall. At the S end of the trench, near the SE corner of the castle, were the remains of a masonry building, the E wall of which had been thickened at some stage, probably to insert a fireplace. This building, which had a flagged floor, had been truncated by a modern drain on its S side.

Excavation within a small cellar in Garden Cottage, some 100m W of the castle, revealed a stone-lined passage in its E wall which defies interpretation. Possible explanations for the cellar include its use as an ice house or as a wheel pit for a mill pre-dating the presumed late 18th-century date for the cottage, although neither idea bears close scrutiny.

Sponsor: Mr Alexander Forbes.

J Lewis 2004