Dunnottar Castle
No Class (Event)
Site Name Dunnottar Castle
Classification No Class (Event)
Canmore ID 279050
Site Number NO88SE 11.13
NGR NO 8812 8384
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/279050
- Council Aberdeenshire
- Parish Dunnottar
- Former Region Grampian
- Former District Kincardine And Deeside
- Former County Kincardineshire
NO88SE 11.13 8812 8384
An archaeological watching brief was carried out in May 2005 when a series of 22 post holes were dug on the eastern cliff edge of the castle site, after a landslide required new safety fencing to be erected. A flat stone found in the first pit was interpreted as the base for artillery during the castle's fortification in the mid 17th century. An earthwork bank running along the seaward side of the fence line likely dates from this period too. Other pits produced evidence of domestic refuse and fragments of skull and a limb bone were also found; the skull may be associated with the nearby chapel and the limb bone appears to have been re-deposited, perhaps during work in the 1920s.
J Wood 2005.
NO 8810 8386 A watching brief was undertaken during the installation of an interpretation board beside the entry passage into Dunnottar Castle. No archaeological features or finds were evident.
H K Murray, 2007.
Watching Brief (May 2005)
NO88SE 11.13 8812 8384 An archaeological watching brief was carried out in May 2005 when a series of 22 post holes were dug on the eastern cliff edge of the castle site, after a landslide required new safety fencing to be erected. A flat stone found in the first pit was interpreted as the base for artillery during the castle's fortification in the mid 17th century. An earthwork bank running along the seaward side of the fence line likely dates from this period too. Other pits produced evidence of domestic refuse and fragments of skull and a limb bone were also found; the skull may be associated with the nearby chapel and the limb bone appears to have been re-deposited, perhaps during work in the 1920s. J Wood 2005.
Watching Brief (14 February 2008)
NO 8812 8384 A watching brief was maintained on a coastal footpath between Stonehaven and Dunnottar Castle on 14 February 2008. No archaeological features or finds were evident.
Report: Aberdeenshire SMR and RCAHMS
Funder: Aberdeenshire Council
J C Murray (Murray Archaeological Services Ltd), 2008
Watching Brief (14 January 2013 - 15 January 2013)
NO 8812 8384 A watching brief was maintained, 14–15 January 2013, during the extension of a safety barrier erected in 2009. A series of 26 postholes were excavated by hand. One posthole, against the castle wall, exposed two foundation stones c400mm below ground level.
Archive: RCAHMS (intended). Report: Aberdeenshire Council HER
Funder: Dunecht Estates
JC Murray, Murray Archaeological Services Ltd, 2013
(Source: DES)
Watching Brief (31 October 2018)
NO 88128 83842 A watching brief was undertaken, 31 October
2018, during the excavation of a new drain along an existing
pathway within the castle. No archaeological features or
finds were evident.
Archive: Aberdeenshire HER and NRHE
Funder: Dunecht Estates
Hilary and Charlie Murray – Murray Archaeological Services Ltd
(Source: DES, Volume 19)
Watching Brief (30 October 2018)
NO 88128 83842 A watching brief was undertaken,
30 October 2018, during the excavation of two small
drainage sumps inside rooms in the West Range of buildings.
No archaeological features or finds were evident.
Archive: Aberdeenshire HER and NRHE
Funder: Dunecht Estates
Hilary and Charlie Murray – Murray Archaeological Services Ltd
(Source: DES, Volume 19)
Watching Brief (3 December 2019)
NO 8812 8384 A watching brief was undertaken during drainage works in the floor of the 17th-century dining room at Dunnottar Castle, on 3 December 2019. The dining room is at first-floor level above barrel vaulted cellars. The floor make-up appeared to be a mixture of clay and topsoil brought in from elsewhere on the castle promontory. It yielded three sherds of ceramic ranging in date between a bowl fragment of 14th to 15th -century date and a sherd of early 20th-century china, suggesting that this surface may have been laid during the 1920s restoration of the castle by the Pearson family.
Archive: Aberdeenshire HER and NRHE
Funder: Dunecht Estates
H K Murray and J C Murray − Murray Archaeological Services Ltd
(Source: DES Vol 21)
