Castle, Rarey

NM82SW 18 8315 2065.

(NM 8315 2065) Castle (NR) (Site of)

OS 1:10,000 map, (1976)

About 120m NE of the 18th century laird's house at Rarey (Raera - 1), is a small earthwork, reputedly the site of a former castle of the MacDougalls (Ordnance Survey Name Book - ONB 1871). To the east, the ground falls steeply to the rocky gorge of the River Euchar, 28m below, but to the NW, an artificial ditch separates the natural promontory from the level ground beyond. The summit area is irregular, measuring about 30 by 22 metres and the ditch has an average width of about 11m and a depth of about 1.8m. The turf-covered foundations of a dry-stone wall can be traced for a distance of about 14 metres in the SE sector. It does not, however, conform to the edge of the summit and its date and purpose are uncertain.

Excavation at the site in 1957 failed to identify the position of any structures, though a thick deposit of charcoal was thought to indicate the former existence of a timber building that had been destroyed by fire. A small quantity of glazed pottery and a copper belt-buckle both probably 16th or 17th century date, were among the finds.

The origins and early history of the site are obscure, but Rarey was included in a grant of lands by Robert I to Dugall Campbell of Lochaw in 1313 and it is not known when the MacDougalls regained possession of the estate (OPS 1854). Rarey is shown as an unfortified dwelling on the Pont-Gordon map of the second quarter of the 17th century.

Orig Paroch Scot 1854; Name Book 1871; RCAHMS 1975, visited June 1970.

As described. The farmer's son at Rarey has in his possession a coin of William and Mary and a bluish bead found at the site.

Surveyed at 1:2500 scale.

Visited by OS (R D) 14 September 1971.