Dunollie Castle
| Dunollie Castle | |
|---|---|
 Dunollie Castle |
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| Creation time : | early 15th century |
| Conservation status: | ruin |
| Geographical location | 56 ° 25 '35.8 " N , 5 ° 29' 4.3" W |
Dunollie Castle is a ruined castle northwest of the Scottish town of Oban . It is right on the banks of the Firth of Lorne inlet . The structure is classified as a Scheduled Monument .
history
The castle, preserved today as a ruin, probably dates from the early 15th century. It was a fortress belonging to the MacDougalls of MacDougall , who expanded it in the 16th century. In 1647, Dunollie Castle was unsuccessfully besieged by Covenanters . Iain Ciar, 22nd of Dunollie abandoned the castle in 1715. A later use of the walls is not recorded.
In 1978 the site was subjected to an archaeological investigation. Here, previous buildings of today's Dunollie Castle were examined. The earliest fortress construction at this location was dated to the 7th to 8th centuries. Another fortress is estimated to be in the 13th century.
description
The ruin is on a rocky hill. It consists of clay-jointed quarry stone and includes a defense tower that encloses an inner courtyard. The tower stands in the northeast corner of a fortified courtyard, which, together with other fortifications, occupies the hilltop. It comprises four floors, each with one room and is entered at ground level via an entrance in the west wall. The tower once closed with a crenellated battlement, which is now largely in ruins. The fortification wall of the square courtyard with a side length of 24.4 m has a thickness of 2.3 m on the north-east side, which is important for defense tactics. On the other hand, it is only between 60 cm and 150 cm thick on the other sides. The entrance gate was in the east. Another more recent gate was in the north, but was then closed with a wall. The outer wall has largely collapsed. Only on the northeast side is it still preserved up to an average height of 4.6 m. There is evidence that other buildings were once arranged along the walls.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Scheduled Monument - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
- ↑ Entry in the Scottish list of monuments ( memento from July 15, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
- ↑ a b Entry on Dunollie Castle in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)
Web links
- Entry on Dunollie Castle in Canmore, Historic Environment Scotland database