Archaeology Notes

Event ID 730050

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/730050

NX76SW 7 73920 62281

(NX 7392 6228) Threave Castle (NR)

(Remains of)

OS 6" map (1957)

The castle of Threave was listed in 1909.

J Robinson 1924

The present Threave Castle, built between 1369 and 1390, possibly on the site of its predecessor, is a rectangular tower 61ft by 40ft and 70ft high to the highest surviving part of the battlements, surrounded by the remains of a curtain wall which, although allegedly erected in 1513, may well have been built about 1454, in which case it is the earliest or second earliest artillery fortification in Scotland. Beyond the curtain wall is a ditch once filled with water and an enclosed forecourt about 150 ft square. Immediately to the south of the castle are traces of possible earthouses or stables. The tower was slighted by the Covenanters in 1640. (MoW Official Guide)

RCAHMS 1914 ; S H Cruden 1960.

Threave Castle and its associated earthworks are generally as described above.

Earthworks resurveyed at 1/2500.

Visited by OS (RD) 14 August 1968.

Wooden artifacts [listed].

J Barber 1984.

NX 739 622 February 2007: An archaeological brief was maintained at Threave Castle during works in advance of the replacement of the drawbridge to the E side of the castle. Three small trenches were excavated. Variation in the deposits encountered indicated at least two types of material used to build up the ground to the E side of the castle - possibly upcast from the nearby ditch.

May 2007: A second short period of archaeological monitoring was required during the removal of a small area of turf. As

part of works to improve access to the Castle the decision had been taken to fill a small hollow just to the N of the end of the drawbridge. This involved lifting the turf from the area, raising the ground level with imported soil, and replacing the turf, revealing nothing of archaeological interest other than a small group of stones thought likely to represent tumble from the outer defensive earthwork.

Archive to be deposited with RCAHMS.

Funder: Historic Scotland.

Sarah Hogg, 2007.