Archaeology Notes

Event ID 862164

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/862164

NO79NW 8.00 73413 96801

NO79NW 8.01 NO 73478 96784 Crathes Castle, Garden

NO79NW 8.02 NO 73483 96643 Crathes Castle, Doocot

NO79NW 8.03 NO 74263 96344 Crathes Castle, East Lodge Bridge

NO79NW 8.04 NO 7420 9632 Crathes Castle, East Lodge

NO79NW 8.05 NO 7325 9729 Crathes Castle, Sawmill

NO79NW 8.06 NO 7329 9727 Crathes Castle, Keeper's Cottage

NO79NW 8.07 NO 7308 9648 Crathes Castle, House of Crathes

NO79NW 8.08 NO 7321 9643 Crathes Castle, Woodbine Cottage

NO79NW 8.09 NO 7342 9648 Crathes Castle, Burial-ground

NO79NW 8.10 NO 7222 9657 Crathes Castle, West Lodge

NO79NW 8.11 NO 7315 9702 to NO 7334 9702 Crathes Estate, Lade and Ice-pond

NO79NW 8.12 NO 7335 9692 Crathes Castle, Farmsteading

NO79NW 8.13 NO 7413 9674 to NO 7424 9639 Crathes Estate, Pond, Dams and Sluices

NO79NW 8.14 NO 7414 9634 and NO 7416 9633 Crathes Estate, Ice-houses (possible)

Crathes is an L-plan tower house bearing the dates 1553, 1554, and 1596.

D MacGibbon and T Ross, 1887-92.

Listed.

Scottish Castle Survey 1988; N Bogdan and I B D Bryce 1991.

The removal of a false floor in a recess on the first floor of Crathes Castle revealed a blocked staircase leading down to the kitchen area. Debris had built up at the bottom of the stairs, against the masonry blocking. This material was excavated by hand and was all coarse sieved, leading to the recovery of a small but varied assemblage of material provisionally dated to the beginning of the 19th century. The material is of special value it relates very specifically to the use of the castle which is now open to the public.

Sponsor: NTS.

R Turner 1994.

An assessment was carried out during November 1995 on the implications of raising stone flags in the 'well' room, which is thought by some to have contained the castle well. The work was necessitated by the regular welling up of water through the floor.

A slabs in the SW-quadrant of the room was lifted and a small 0.5m diameter area was exposed to the level of the previous floor. The slabs were found to overlay a surface of very hard sandy mortar-like material (layer 2) some 50mm thick, which possibly represents the floor surface prior to the present levels, or it may have been introduced as bedding for the stone slabs (layer 1). This surface (layer 2), was overlain by a 0.5mm layer of black sooty material containing flecks of whitewash (layer 3), possibly representing accumulated rubbish. Of these deposits, layers 2 and 3 are potentially of archaeological interest, but there was no evidence of their date. As the area is not under threat, further excavation was not proceeded with, and a layer of polythene is to be laid on top of layer 2, and the flags re-laid in concrete.

R Turner 1995.

(Location cited as NO 7341 9680: nominated as Site of Regional Significance). This tower-house is situated on a gentle slope at an altitude of 76m OD.

Built of granite with rounded angles, it rises to four storeys and an attic; it was built as an L-plan tower-house in the mid-16th century, a projecting wing being added later. The lower storeys are plain but above the first-floor level there is a profusion of ornament (corbelling, string-course, angle- and stair-turrets, heraldic decoration, gargoyles and gabling) which is unique to Scottish castellated architecture. The interior is famed for its plasterwork and magnificent wooden painted ceilings.

The castle bears the dates 1553, 1554 and 1596. It was built for the Burnetts of Leys who received the charter for the land from Robert the Bruce in 1323. Within the castle is held a jewelled ivory horn, the Horn of Leys, which is said to have been presented to Alexander Burnett by the Bruce when he received the charter. The Bell family are generally thought to have remodelled the upper parts of the castle. George Bell died in 1575 and I and David Bell were at work in the early 17th century. The castle came into the hands of the National Trust for Scotland in 1951.

[Air photographic imagery and newspaper references listed].

NMRS, MS/712/35.

NO 734 968 A blocked pistol loop was discovered during redecorating works in the S stair tower of Crathes Castle, between the fourth and fifth floors. The feature appears to be integral to the original fabric of the building; its typology fits well with the mid-16th-century construction of this part of the castle. Its field of fire is an arc of approximately 45o, covering the SW corner of the castle.

The internal aperture is rectangular, c 0.95m high by 0.5m wide, narrowing to an external aperture c 0.15m square, blocked with a terracotta brick or tile. The faces of the pistol loop retain much of their original plaster; layers of limewash are likely to be of some antiquity, if not primary coats. Fragments of light green window glass, similar to that found as secondary glazing in other loops in the castle, were found lying on the internal sill.

At some point in the past the pistol loop had been covered with a wooden plank and plastered over, as a redundant and possibly inconvenient feature.

Archaeological recording of the feature was carried out by Addyman & Kay.

Sponsor: National Trust for Scotland.

S M Fraser 2001a

NO 736 968 A watching brief was carried out in March 2005 during topsoil stripping in preparation for a new overflow car park as the site is within 200m of the Warren Field pit alignment and c400m from the Warren Field Neolithic hall. A small number of highly truncated negative features, possibly post-holes, were revealed near the top of a SE-facing slope. Six of these features contained flint or pottery of probable later prehistoric date.

Report to be lodged with Aberdeenshire SMR and NMRS.

Sponsor: NTS.

NO 733 969 An excavation was undertaken between February and August 2005 alongside the N and E ranges of the enclosed courtyard behind the horse mill. Later, a series of watching briefs and small-scale excavations took place in the central area and NW part of the courtyard. These interventions were aimed to record any features revealed during the lowering of the yard surface and building development work associated with the Skytrek project.

The W end of the early 19th-century N range had been demolished c 1945. This was excavated and recorded. A drain led from within the range into the yard, and three stone-lined sockets were excavated which may have held the hind posts of trevises for horse or possibly cattle stalls.

Beneath the modern yard surface was a very fine band of cobbling, c 3m wide, alongside the N and E ranges. A small area of this cobbling was also revealed beside the NE corner of the W range. The cobbling was bordered on the side facing the centre of the yard by an elegantly curved kerb of large stones. This line is shown on the 1864 OS map and can probably be dated to c 1850-64 when the horse mill was constructed. An earlier yard surface, probably early 19th century, was also identified beside the E range. Stone-lined drains were found associated with both phases of yard development.

In the E part of the central area of the courtyard, foundations were recorded which can probably be identified as the support for the saw bench used in the sawmill built during WW2. The shed of the sawmill is shown in this position in an RAF aerial photograph taken in May 1945.

Report to be lodged with Aberdeenshire SMR and NMRS.

Sponsor: NTS.

NO 734 968

A watching brief was carried out in September 2005 during the laying of a cable between Crathes Castle and Crathes

Castle courtyard and stables. To the N side of the restored Queen Anne wing of the castle, wall foundations were revealed which belonged to the 19th-century extension of the wing which had burnt in 1966. Cobbling was exposed to the E of the horse mill. This was a continuation of cobbling recorded in a separate excavation within the courtyard (see below).