Archaeology Notes
Event ID 668563
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Archaeology Notes
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/668563
NJ54SW 9.00 53196 40749
(NJ 5320 4076) Huntly Castle (NR) (In Ruins).
OS 6" map (1938).
For jet ring found at 'Castle Huntly, Strathbogie' (NJ c. 532 407), see NJ54SW 10.
For dovecot (NJ 5328 4153) at Huntly Lodge Farm (also known as Huntly Castle), see NJ54SW 12.
Full description and history of Huntly Castle given by Simpson (1960).
W D Simpson 1960.
The castle and its adjacent features are as described by Simpson. Omitted from the sketch-plan at the back of the Guide are the 16th century foundations exposed to the north of the 'Great Olde Tower'.
Surveyed at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (EGC) 21 September 1961.
Three castles have guarded the crossing of the Deveron at its confluence with the Bogie. The first, the Peel of Strathbogie, was an earth and timber motte and bailey castle built in the late 12th century; the motte can still be seen. The second, built c. 1400 on the bailey of the first castle, was a strong L-plan tower of the Gordons, whose foundations can still be traced. The third, the Palace that rears up 20m or more, was begun in the mid 15th century, remodelled in the 1550's and adorned with oriels and armorials in the early 17th century.
Huntly figures prominently in Scottish history. Sir Robert Bruce rested in the motte in 1307. James IV attended the marriage of the pretender to the English throne, Perkin Warbeck, to Lady Catherine Gordon in 1496 in the third castle. In 1556 the Queen Regent, Mary of Guise, visited this, the chief stronghold of the Catholic Gordon earls of Huntly that by 1562 was to become the headquarters of the counter-reformation in Scotland. In that year, after the earl of Huntly's defeat at Corrichie (at the hands of Mary Queen of Scots) the castle was pillaged, the contents including the treasures of St Machar's Cathedral, Aberdeen. In the troubles of the 17th century, the castle was occupied by the Covenanters (in 1640) and (in 1647) the Marquis of Huntly was captured and his escort shot against the walls.
The Palace is best preserved. It is of three periods; the earliest, dating to the mid 15th century, is represented by three basement vaults and a dark pit-prison cut into the foundations. Early graffiti survive on the plaster of the corridor. In the middle of the 16th century the fourth earl rebuilt this castle from the ground floor up. On the first floor is the earl's apartment, the traditional arrangement of hall, great chamber and inner chamber with bed recess and privy. The imagination must supply the wall hangings, window glass, plastered walls and painted ceilings (with 'figures and mottoes') with which these apartments would have been furnished. The arrangement of the floor above, for the earl's wife, would have been similar. In the upper hall is one of the splendid heraldic mantelpieces inserted by George, first marquis, in the third building period, the first decade of the 17th century. This shows the arms of Huntly and Lennox with the royal arma above, and between obeliskes bearing Seton crescents and Lennox fleur de lis. The topmost panel was removed by the Covenanter, Capt James Wallace, as it was of a sacred subject.
At the top of the round tower, 20m up, a 'belvedere' or turret room gave wide, dizzying views. The first marquis also added the impressive heraldic frontispiece over the main doorway, to one Lord Lyon 'probably the most splendid heraldic doorway in the British Isles'. The gracious oriel windows on the south front were probably inspired by Huntly's visit to Blois in France in 1594. With frieze of giant relief letters commemorating himself (GEORGE GORDOVN FIRST MARQVIS OF HUNTLIE) and his wife (HENRIETTE STEVART MARQVESSE OF HVNTLIE) in 1602, they complete one of the most sophisticated buildings of its day. From the depths of its hopeless pit to the airy sweetness of its oriels it was always a statment of Gordon power.
I A G Shepherd 1986.
In order to upgrade the custodian's office and provide wheelchair access for visitors to Huntly Castle, an existing stairway had to be demolished and a concrete ramp built to replace it. This work was undertaken by Historic Scotland's DEL squad. The work was supervised by Andy Barlow of Scotia Archaeology Ltd between March 4th and 6th 1996. The excavation area was located at the south-west corner of a terrace outside the round tower of the palace block on the south side of the castle. A few bones were found but nothing else of archaeological interest and the results of the portion of the terrace investigated support Simpson's observations (1933, 147).
NMRS, MS/733/111.
(Location cited as NJ 532 407). A watching brief was carried out by Scotia Archaeology Ltd during the demolition of a stone stairway and the excavation of a trench for a concrete ramp to replace it. The trench, measuring 18m E-W, 1.5m wide and 1m deep, was located at the W end of an artificial terrace outside the palace block on the S side of the castle. Below a gravel path was a uniform layer of sandy loam which continued beyond the depth of excavation. No features or finds of archaeological interest were encountered within the trench.
Sponsor: HS
A Barlow 1996.
Huntly Castle, remains of castle and motte. Air photographs: AAS/00/05/G17/6-11 and AAS/00/05/CT.
NMRS, MS/712/100.
