Archaeology Notes

Event ID 705282

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/705282

NS61SW 2 6174 1384.

(Name: NS 6174 1384) Black Bog Castle (NR) (site of)

OS 25" map (1962)

The first barons of Cumnock to be mentioned in charters (of the 14th century) were the Dunbars. Their residence was Cumnock Castle, noted in the ONB as "Black Bog Castle", and in the NSA as "Black Craig Castle". No trace of it remains, though part of the moat which surrounded it is still extant. Its site, on the summit of a knoll, was pointed out in 1856 by a person who had assisted in the removed of its stones. The castle is described as ruinous in 1580, but it must have been rebuilt as a document of 1650 refers to "the new castle of Cumnock". There must have been a considerable ruin standing towards the end of the 18th century.

J Warrick 1899; Name Book 1856; NSA 1845 (M Kirkland)

No trace of the castle remains. The moat is broad and about

2.0m deep on the N. The church and other modern buildings destroy all trace of it on the E, S, and W.

Visited by OS (JLD) 14 July 1954

Cumnock Castle is shown as belonging to the Earl of Dunbar, extant about 1300.

J D Galbraith 1975

There has been recent development within the immediate area of the castle site but no finds or foundation exposures are reported locally. The only remnants of the moat survive in the garden of the old manse, and then only as an amorphous, landscaped hollow of no measurable depth; some semblance of its form is, however, retained against an old hedge line around the NW angle. The former remains of the N and E arms have only recently been destroyed by building development.

Revised at 1:2500.

Visited by OS (JRL) 24 November 1981