Dunollie Castle, Oban, Scotland

Dunollie Castle
Oban,
Scotland

Dunollie castle is built on the headland at the entrance to Oban Bay. The remains consist of a tower house with a courtyard, and traces of a wall circling the summit of the headland.

Above. Dunollie Castle from Cnoc Moine, looking West across Oban Bay (from personal collection)

The castle was built in the 12th century, probably by Ewan MacDougall, however the surviving remains of the tower house date from the 15th century. The only remaining portion of the curtain wall, is around 15 feet wide and precariously perched atop the summit.

The castle is visible as you sail into Oban Bay, shrouded in trees and covered in ivy and creepers.

In 1746, the castle was abandoned by the MacDougalls, in favour of Dunollie House just down the road.

Duart Castle, Isle of Mull, Scotland

Duart Castle
Isle of Mull
Morvern
Scotland

The castle of Duart sits on a headland overlooking Duart Bay in the Sound of Mull. The castle is most likely to have been built sometime in the 13th century, although it’s not been possible to date the buildings exactly. When the castle was acquired by the MacLeans in the 14th century, a rebuilding and extension period was undertaken, whereby buildings that were previously erected within the castle walls were demolished, and a substantial tower house was built.

The curtain wall, the kitchen and a well are all that now remain of the original 13th century structure.

Above. View of the castle looking North West, sailing towards the Sound of Mull.

Further alterations were made in the 16th century, when more accommodation was added at the expense of buildings in the courtyard.

Above. Another view of the castle looking North West, with Dun da Ghaoithe in the background.

In 1674, the castle was bought by the Campbell Earls of Argyll, and was regularly garrisoned with troops. Soon after this time, the castle was beginning to deteriorate, and by 1748, the tower house was roof-less, and many other buildings ruinous.

Above. View of the castle looking West.

The castle was re-acquired by the MacLeans in 1911, and was partially rebuilt a year later.

Ardtornish Castle, Morvern, Scotland

Ardtornish Castle
Ardtornish Point
Nr Lochaline
Morvern
Scotland

Ardtornish Castle was once the seat of the high chiefs of the Donald Clan, from the early 14th to late 15th century. The castle is sited on a headland in the Sound of Mull, about a mile south east of the village of Lachaline. The castle was possibly built in the second half of the 13th century, and probably abandoned by the end of the 17th century.

The main ruins that can be seen today, consist of the remains of the Hall house, rising around 32 feet above the sea below it. Traces of other buildings can still be seen on the North side of the hall. A small boat house has been identified, as has a kiln. There are no defensive earth works at the site, either on the sea ward or land ward side of the castle. It appears that the natural position of the castle was enough to ward off potential attackers.The castle was restored between 1910 and 1915, albeit badly, with much of the outer walls refaced. Many of the windows were altered or even blocked up, and many of the rooms that can still be seen are full of debris from collapsed walls and roofs.

The surviving walls of the hall house are around 9 feet thick in places, and rise to around 16 feet at their highest points. The hall house, shown in both photos here, measures around 55 by 30 feet, and is built upon a rocky outcrop, no doubt providing yet further stability and strength for this well placed castle. Access to Ardtornish was mainly by sea, and the beach is littered with tiny coves and inlets in which small boats could be moored. You are able to get to the castle's remains, but it involves a trek of some seven or eight miles. From Ardtornish village, there is a track that runs along the East shores of Loch Aline. As the headland of Ardtornish Point comes into view, you have to leave the track, and continue South for about three quarters of a mile. The castle lays directly in front of you.

The Mayburgh Henge, Eamont Bridge

The Mayburgh Henge
Eamont Bridge
Nr Penrith
Cumbria

Mayburgh lays just off the B5230, the road that leads to Yanwath Hall. It is set back off the road about a hundred and fifty yards. The henge is visible from King Arthur’s Round Table, the entrance clearly discernable.

The henge is a late Neolithic monument, with the earthworks surviving nearly intact. The encircling bank is nearly 7 metres high at its highest point, and surrounds a flat interior measuring around 90 metres in diameter. The bank is nearly 45 metres wide at its widest point.

The bank is constructed of pebbles probably carried by hand from the nearby River Eamont. The single entrance is on the East side of the bank.

There is a single standing stone in the centre of the remains, although there are suggestions that there may have been as many as eight at some time. It’s rather surprising that the henge has never been excavated.

There is ample parking at the foot of the henge and it’s open all year round.

King Arthur's Round Table, Eamont Bridge

King Arthur’s Round Table
Eamont Bridge
Nr Penrith
Cumbria

The earthworks of King Arthur’s Round Table consist of an almost circular bank with a ditch that runs around the interior of the remains. Within the remains there is a raised circular platform that doesn’t have any antiquity at all. It is reputed that a local landlord had earth tipped into the centre of the remains for the intention of having ‘tea-parties’ here!!

The remains have been damaged on two sides by the A6 and the B5320, which leads to Yanwath. The remains sit right next to the roads and are readily accessible.There is a clear entrance break in the encircling bank, and it is understood that there was once an entrance also on the opposite side of the earthworks. The second entrance was destroyed when the B5230 was built. This second entrance had two standing stones but these have long since gone.

The only find from the centre of the earthworks, were the remains of a trench, widely believed to have been the remains of a disturbed burial. Nothing of any significance has been unearthed at this site.The earthworks are open all year round and there is parking across the road.

About 200 hundred yards up the road, within the grounds of Lowther Park, lay the remains of Little Round Table.....the remains of a smaller 'henge'. I couldn't find these remains, and will probably return at a later date to search for them again.

Yanwath Hall, nr Penrith

Yanwath Hall
Yanwath
Nr Penrith
Cumbria

Yanwath Hall has to be one of the most beautiful and complete pele towers I’ve come across so far. It sits just off the B5320 about two miles from the earthworks of the Mayburgh Henge and King Arthur’s Round Table.

The pele portion of the building is a 14th century defensive structure, joined to a mostly 15th century hall. The tower has had some minor rebuilding done to it during the Elizabethan period, namely the addition of windows at the ground floor.

The tower retains its battlements, although the flat roof has been replaced by a steepled tiles roof. The whole structure has a partially enclosed courtyard at the rear, probably dating from the same period as the hall. The courtyard is entered through a 14th century gatehouse.

The de Suttons owned the tower through much of the early 14th century, later passing to the Threlkeld and then to the Lowthers. The tower can be approached down a private road as far as the railway bridge. From here good views can be had of the front of the tower and the hall.

Above. Old print of Yanwath Hall looking towards the enclosed courtyard to the rear of the hall and tower.

Collinfield, Kendal

Collinfield
Kendal
Cumbria

Collinfield sits between Pembroke Court and Clifford Drive in Kendal. These two roads give a clue to the importance of the house, and its one time owner. The house was built in around 1600, and retains many of its original features. These include the thick walls, a courtyard, and the original gate. Its first known owner, according to records dated 1620, was Jeffrey Sedgwick. The house later came under the ownership of Anne Clifford, Countess of Pembroke and Montgomery. Anne is famously linked with the restoration of such buildings as Pendragon Castle in Mallerstang, Brougham Castle near Penrith, Skipton Castle, Appleby Castle and many other churches and castles throughout the North and North West.

Collinfield was used by Anne as a rest house, when she was travelling between Skipton and Appleby. Evidence of both her ownership and the time she spent at the house in Kendal are her initials above the main oak door, which is original, and a latin inscription dated 1663, mounted above the door of the porch. The inscription reads:

"NVNC MEA, MOX HVIVS SED POSTEA, NESCIO CVIVS." Which translates as "Now mine, presently his, Afterwards I know not whose."

It's possible that the Countess brought this inscribed tablet from Brougham Castle, one of her favourite haunts.

The house was remodelled by George Sedgwick, secretary to the countess of Pembroke, when he acquired it in 1668. On his death in 1685, the house became the residence of the Chambre family, and was subsequently purchased, in 1747, from George Sedwick's nephew by Mr John Yeates, in whose family the house remains to this day. The building exhibits later additions and features, but still retains is medieval character. It is often documented that this house can be classified as a 'fortified' dwelling...though, secure as it may have been, with its courtyard, it does not seem to display any fortifications per-se.

In Kirkland, less than half a mile away, there is a building called Pembroke House, which, due to the name, Pembroke, is sometimes associated with Lady Anne Clifford.

Built sometime in the latter part of the 17th century, the building is one of Kendal's last surviving cruck built houses....ie with complex timber roof beams.

Blind Beck, Kendal

Blind Beck
Kendal
Cumbria

Blind Beck, Kendal, is the original boundary between Kendal and Kirkland. Between 1090 and 1097, Ivo de Taillebois gave Kendal's church and its lands (the Kirk lands) to the Benedictine Abbey of St Mary in York. This part of the town is still known today as Kirkland, and the northern boundary is still known as Blind Beck.

The above photo shows where the boundary between Kendal and Kirkland lies on Highate. The beck literally slices the two 'parishes' in two.

Above. Blind Beck and the Kent flooding Kirkland.

The beck rises somewhere on the Kendal fells, its source hidden and possibly alluding to its name 'Blind'. The beck flows through Kirkbarrow, the lands to the East of Abbot Hall, between the Abbot Hall carpark, and the Abbot Hall Park, and into the River Kent.

Kirkland and Kendal were at one point two seperate entities, each with its own church, and manorial centres. Kendal's manorial centre was of course the castle on Castle Hill, and Kirkland's manorial centre was (allegedly) the motte and bailey castle on Castle Howe.

Goods bound for market in Kendal were subjected to a quality check before they entered the parish. Those goods found to be of poor quality, were not permitted to be sold from the markets of Kendal, and could only therefore be sold in Kirkland. Hence the different characters of both parishes lives on to this day.

Low Borrowbridge nr Tebay

Low Borrowbridge
Nr Tebay
Cumbria

The Roman fort at Low Borrowbridge lays in a field next to the main West coast railway and just off the A685 from Kendal to Tebay. The fort is undated, and is fairly well hidden.

Above. View of the fort from Birk Knott (courtesy of Janis Mildwater)

The interior covers an area of around two and three quarter acres, and consists of a turf covered platform, with embanked ditches to all four sides. The earthen embankment has a dry stone wall built all along it…nothing to do with the Roman fort. Between the back end of the fort and the railway line, there are the faint outlines of two square structures with stone foundations, more than likely the footings of a pair of guard towers. These feint remains lay on the North face of the fort, guarding what would have been the North gateway, and protrude about five feet outside the walls. The footings of the guard tower are possibly visible beneath the telegraph poles in the photo below.

The West side of the fort seems to have an array of around 4 ditches which in turn travel along the South side of the remains. About 60 yards North of the South West corner of the fort, the remains of the West gate can still be seen. The remains indicate that this gateway would have been a single track entrance of around six feet wide.

Above. A view of the Western ramparts, with the modern field wall on top.

Some of the outer face of the ramparts were cleared in 1883 and then again in 1933. These remains consists of an offset course of large limestone blocks topped by a course of sandstone, above which the wall seems to have been loosely rebuilt. The rebuilding appears to have blocked the remains of the North gate.

Above. Looking West towards the fort's ramparts, with Birk Knott in the background.

There are no indications of any internal buildings....years of ploughing has probably destroyed any evidence. A fire place was however discovered during excavations in the centre of the fort in 1826.

Above. A view of the fort's Northern ramparts and defensive banks.

In 1883, a fragment of walling and a pavement of bright red concrete (pounded brick) with a raised border round it, was found in the gardens of the nearby farm house, then an inn. These remains, partly destroyed in 1933, probably represent the fort’s bath building.

To the North of the fort, a flat piece of ground was found that was suggested to have been the parade ground. However, due to its small size, this idea has since been ruled out.

To the North of the fort, the stone abutments of a Roman bridge crossing the river can allegedly be seen in the river embankment.

There is some great information about the fort here, at the Lunesdale Archaeological Society website, especially relating to work that took place between 2014 to 2017.

Aldingham motte\Aldingham Grange

Aldingham Motte
and Aldingham Grange
Aldingham
Cumbria

Aldingham castle is an unusual 13th century motte and bailey castle. The site is believed to have been first fortified in the 12th century as a ringwork and bailey structure. The ringwork was then filled in and the earthworks heightened in order that a motte could be raised and a wide ditch created.

Above. A view of the motte looking South from the beach.

The remains now sit precariously on the cliffs over looking the sea, with erosion being a problem on the east side of the motte.

Above. A view of the motte looking East out towards Morecambe Bay.

The motte is around 30 feet high, with a ditch surrounding it to a depth of around 10 feet. The ditch varies in width from 15 to 20 feet across. The above two photos show the view of the castle from the beach. This area can be accessed from the footpath that runs from the graveyard of St Cuthberts church about two miles down the coast walk.The remains site to the east of the A5087, South of Bardsea and about 6 miles south of Ulverston, on the Cumbria coastal walk. Although the remains are on private land, and fenced off, the motte can be seen clearly from the adjacent field. Just watch the cows…..they’re a little edgy when people stray from the path!!

Above. Another view of the motte looking East.

About 150 yards to the West of the motte and bailey remains, and across some unidentified earthwork ditches (possibly the remains of the bailey defences), lays the remains of Aldingham Grange, the supposed remains of a 12th century manor house. All that remains of this site however, is the water filled moat and the earthen mound in the centre.

Above. The moated platform of Aldingham Grange, looking North.

It is thought that this was the site of the manor held by Michael de Fleming. There are not traces of stone work on the mound in the centre of the moat, possibly indicating that a timber structure was erected here.

Above. A view of the moat surrounding the central earthwork.

This is alleged to have been the site of the manor belonging to the Le Flemings.

Mediobogdum and Galava

Cumbrian Roman Forts

There are a number of well preserved roman forts in Cumbria, ranging from Mediobogdum at the summit of Hardknott pass, Galava at Ambleside and Low Borrowbridge near Tebay.The Romans were here from AD 43 until they left in the 5th century. During their occupation they left behind the remains of fortresses, towns, defensive structures and helped shape the landscape of Britain from the North to the South, and from the West to the East. The Romans left their mark on Cumbria as well!!

Mediobogdum\Hard Knott Pass

The fort at the summit of Hardknott pass lays 100 yards off the road that runs over the pass down to Eskdale.

Above. The fort as seen from the summit of Hardknott Pass.

It represents one of the more isolated Roman outposts in the UK. The fort was built between AD120 and AD 138, and there are two phases of building in evidence.

The first phase appears to be mainly of wooden structures, and the second phase appears to be mainly of stone structures replacing the earlier buildings. The fort is 375 feet square, and covers and area of around 2 and three quarter acres.

The walls around the fort were around 5 feet thick providing excellent protection against attack. The ditch that surrounded the fort, and the wall, amounted to a defensive barrier of around 20 feet.

The fort over looks the Roman road that runs over the pass, connecting Ravenglass and Ambleside, to Brougham at Penrith. Much of the structure has been rebuilt from the available rubble at the site, so that the walls that surround the fort on all four sides, stand to around three feet high.

The barracks, the bath house and the granaries have all been similarly reconstructed and are therefore very well defined.

About 100 yards to the north west of the fort, lays an artificially flattened escarpment which is widely believed to be the camp’s parade ground.

Galava\Ambleside

The fort at Ambleside is somewhat smaller than the Hardknott fort, and covers an area of around 1 and three quarter acres. The fort measures 300 by 250 feet.

The fort is built at the north end of Windermere and was constructed at the end of the first century as the Romans were making headway in the North.

The original site was mainly constructed of wood, but was strengthened in the second century with stone structures, and the whole site was lifted on a building platform that would originally have been around four feet high. The fort would have housed around 500 soldiers.

There are not so many remains as at Hardknott, but what there is has been restructured again using available rubble. The granaries, some of the outer defences, the main gate, the South gate and the barracks can all be seen clearly.

Both of these forts are freely accessible, and worth a visit.