Archaeology Notes

Event ID 699755

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/699755

NS32SW 15.00 3338 2211

NS32SW 15.01 333 221 fortifications

NS32SW 15.02 3348 2208 Moat Wall

NS32SW 15.03 3346 2208 Gateway

NS32SW 15.04 3330 2220 Sally Port

NS32SW 15.05 3327 2221 Magazine

NS32SW 15.06 3339 2227 urban excavation; pottery

(NS 3338 2211) Fort (NR)

OS 6" map (1967)

A citadel was built on the peninsula west of Ayr by Cromwell's troops between 1652 and 1654. It covered about 16 acres of land and was protected by a wall 10ft broad and 14ft high with six bastions and six curtain walls. It was protected on the north by the river, on the west by the sea, and on the south and east by a moat 50ft wide at the bastions and 90ft wide at the curtain walls. The barracks, which covered most of the ground, provided quarters for 800 foot soldiers and 200 horse soldiers, excluding officers,and there was stabling for about 220 horses (see Tessin's plan of 1654). A charter of 1663 established the citadel area as the burgh of barony of Montgomeriestoun, but this was merely a parchment burgh.

Some of the stone work had been removed by the end of the 17th century, but very little building took place on the site before 1855, though by 1906 extensive building had taken place. (See sub-sites for details and field reports). (See also NS32SW 112)

W Dodd 1972; H Caldwell, H Fraser and L Lyall 1969; S Cruden 1960

NS 332 223 In May 2000 a watching brief was carried out on landscaping works, including the construction of a footpath/cycle path and public square, adjacent to the northern remains of Ayr's Cromwellian Citadel (NMRS NS32SW 15). The results of the watching brief recorded minimal foundations from the Churchill Barracks and a short section of base foundation of the Citadel wall. (GUARD 867).

Sponsor: South Ayrshire Council.

A K Maule 2001