Excavations at Craigievar Castle, Aberdeenshire Moira K Greig* with Contributions by Colvin Greig, Bill Lindsay, Stewart Thain & Gordon Williamson
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Proc Antiqc So Scot,(1993)3 12 , 381-93, fiche 2:B1-C4 Excavations at Craigievar Castle, Aberdeenshire Moira K Greig* with contributions by Colvin Greig, Bill Lindsay, Stewart Thain & Gordon Williamson ABSTRACT In the summer of 1990 the National Trust for Scotland funded an excavation to increase their knowledge of Craigievar Castle. This excavation revealed the remains of the east wall and part of the south wall of the original barmkin, along with two contemporary stone drains and a few post-holes. The excavation also recovered coins, pottery and glass. INTRODUCTION Aberdeenshire, now part of Grampian Region, is well known for its great castles. Of the later castles, built in the 17th century, many carried on the tradition of building a contiguous courtyard, or barmkin, although the defensive need for its surrounding wall was rarely required by that time. Today most of these castles have lost their barmkins or have only fragmentary remains, and little is known about their design (for the Lowlands, see Good & Tabraham 1988). However t Craigievaa , r Castlee paristh f n Leochel-Cushnii o h, J (N e 56670748), there exist almosn sa t complete stretc barmkif ho n wall. No contemporary records are known to exist that describe the interior of the courtyard t Craigievara , althoug assumn ca e ehon that there were stable byresd san brewerya , smithya , , and other necessary buildings. There are, however, within the castle, two 18th-century plans which, though differing in some of the structural details that they depict, do show definitive evidence of a barmkin wall enclosing a courtyard with internal buildings. One, a plan by George Brown, dated 1776 (illu , show1) s e layoue policieth sth f o t s with wall buildingd an s s intact; therrouna s i e d south-westowee th t a r t cornebarmkie th squar a f o rd nan e north-westowee th t a r t cornern I . a later plan, drawn in 1791 (illus 2), the south wall and its range of buildings have gone, but the east and west walls and the north range (without a square tower) survive. Since the National Trust for Scotland bought the property from the Forbes-Sempill family in 1963, they have tried to increase their knowledge of the castle, and in so doing to updat e informatioth e r visitorsnfo e TrusTh . t decided tha archaeologican a t l excavation might clarify the discrepancies between the two 18th-century plans. If any evidence of structures survived these might be displayed to the public, thus aiding the interpretation of the castle and its domestic life. ' 255 Westburn Road, Aberdeen 382 SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND, 1993 ILLUS 1 Plan by George Brown, dated 1776 BACKGROUND HISTORY e estatTh f Craigievaeo r belonge e Mortimeth o dt r famil d 15ty mi hfro e centurmth e th o yt early 17th century. They began to build the present castle towards the end of their ownership. However n 161i , 0 lac f fundko s forced the selmo estates e bought th lwa t Williay I .b t m Forbes of Menie, who had gone in for commerce, mostly by dealings in the Low Countries and in Danzig, and who thus became known as 'Danzig Willie', or Willie the Merchant. He continued wit buildine hth castle th f geo whic recordes hi havins da g been complete 1626n di . The name of the architect and mason is uncertain, but he is generally thought to have been I Bell or David Bell (Cruden 1960, 170, 172), one of the great master-masons responsible for some of Aberdeenshire's fine 17th-century castles. Unfortunately Willie the Merchant did not have long to enjoy his new residence, as he died a year later in 1627. He was succeeded by his son (another William) who was created a Baronet of Nova Scotia by Charles I. As Laird of Craigievar during the Civil War he is GREIG: EXCAVATION CRAIGIEVAT SA R CASTL3 38 I E ILLUS 2 Plan, dated 1791 recorde s havinda g transported 'his haill victual f Fintrayo s Craigievao t ' orden i r r that they be 'kept from plundering'. This would seem to imply that Craigievar had a defensive strength which was seen as a great asset. SETTING Dominating the valley of the Leochel Burn, the castle sits on a shelf of the east-facing slop f Craigievao e r Hill a hil ,f schiso l t covere Quaternary db y fluvio-glacial drift castle depositth , ealtitud n ma 4 possessef tillOD so t 26 A . f eo fina s e northe vieth o wt - east, eassouth-easd an t t over Correnni Leochee Mooth d an r l Burn vallee y (illuTh . 3) s valley also contain routa s e from Banchory e Riveth n ro , Dee o Alforde Rivet , th n ro , Don. Built on an L-plan, the castle seems to grow directly out of the hillside and rises to a heigh f seveo t n storeys, terminatin a profusio n i g f pinnacleo n d ornamentaan s l mouldings (illu. s4) I SOCIET 4 38 ANTIQUARIEF YO SCOTLANDF SO , 1993 BERDEEN 1*5. ILLUS 3 Location map To the west the ground slopes down to the remaining west wall of the barmkin. Here, a fligh f stepo t s leads fro originae mth l entrance throug ease walle f whicth hth o t o t , h thers ei now a large level lawn. A sweeping gravel driveway leads up to the castle from the south while the ground to the east of the castle falls steeply away to the valley below. EXISTING STRUCTURAL EVIDENCE e wesTh t wall, wit s survivinhit g walkway, contain e originath s l entranc e courtyardth o t e . This round-arched gateway has an alcove on either side, each with a gun-loop facing west, to protec e approachth t e soutth t hA . end e walth , l terminate picturesqua n i s e small round ease tower th wall e t n sidth O .f ,e o facin 19th-centur o castlee tw gth e ar , y ramped buttresses. Projecting eastwards fro e rounmth de scan toweth e t ar remainr walla f o s0.5c , 0m f thiwide o wese sd walTh . en t recesses i l bondes i d dan d int towee oformth d soute an r th s h doorwaye sidth f eo thus i integran t I s.a presene l parth f o t t tower. At the north end of the remaining barmkin wall there are scant remains of a short length GREIG: EXCAVATIONS AT CRAIGIEVAR CASTLE 385 ILLU S4 Craigievar Castle, fro soute mth h of clay-built wall, projecting eastwards toward castlee sth thin I . s area, repair barmkie th o st n wall in 1990 necessitated the removal of the facing stones on the east side. This revealed an earlier wall face which contained smala par f o t l alcov r aumbry eo e sam th en O sectio. f no wall, next to the northern buttress, the remains of the return of a wall projecting eastwards was visible. e excavationsPrioth o t r a ground-rada, r surve s y carrieOceanfib wa yt ou d x International Ltd. This was based on the same grid as the excavation to allow for later comparison. Although the survey results were not fully available before the excavation started, they did appear to be sufficiently encouraging to suggest that some internal structures still survived. THE EXCAVATION Two trial trenches, Nl and SI, were cut across the north and south areas of the site where structures were indicate Brown'n do s pla f 1776no thirA . d s lai trenchdwa , acrosEl , e th s area wher ease eth t walstoodd beneatw ha l no , gravee hth l drivewa castle th f eyo (illu. 5) s 386 SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND, 1993 ILLU S5 Excavation site plan GREIG: EXCAVATION CRAIGIEVAT SA R CASTL7 38 I E ILLU S6 Pla f Trencno heasterd San I n section, showin levee gth l upper surfac f naturaeo l Excavatio f Nno l proved negative, while SI reveale dlarga e stone drain (SA) running across e trencth h from wes easo t t t wit hsmallea r stone drain (SD) running diagonally toward. it s This trench also containe numbeda f relativelo r y modern field drainss noticeablwa t I . n ei trencheo tw e eacth s f hthao remarkabla t y level upper surfac naturae th f o e l boulder clay yla immediately belo e topsoiwth 6 ml 0. (illubelo , . OnlEl 6) s w n i ygroun d surface, were th e remains of a wall found (EF) with an area of loose stones lying to the east of it. An area between the east and south trenches was opened up; this was cut by a number of 19th- and 20th-century drains, but excavation revealed a layer (110) of dark humic earth containing fragment f potteryo s , clay pipes, glas bonesd f differino an s l al , g dated an s obviously redeposited. This layer thickene eastwardn ra turt n i i s nd da overlaan s aren ya f ao loose stones on the eastern side of the trench. When layer 110 was removed, the basal course of the east wall of the barmkin was revealed as an outer and inner row of facing stones which were set into orange clay. The core of this wall consisted of orange clay and small stones. Part of the basal course of the south wall survived from the south-east corner for some westwardsm 8 ; thereafter remaine th , s were reduce singlo tw e o dt th e linstone f th eo n o s wall, before eventually disappearing altogether largA .