Angus HER - NO53NW0010 - PANMURE CASTLE

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Main Details

Primary ReferenceNO53NW0010
NamePANMURE CASTLE
NRHE Card No.NO53NW10
NRHE Numlink 34531
HES SM No. 2870
HES LB No. NULL
Site Form Standing Structure
Site Condition Incomplete
Details Remains of a castle. Panmure Castle is thought to have been built about 1224 for Sir Peter Maule. Robert Maule wrote a detailed account of the castle early in the 17th century, by which time the place was in ruins, and in 1881 excavations were made to verify his description. The castle was built in the form of a rhomboid, 34.13m north-south x 36.27m. A tower had been built at each corner, projecting beyond the line of the courtyard walls - that at the north-west was 11.27m square, that at the north-east, 7.31m square, and the other two measure 7.31m x 8.23m. The walls were 2.13m thick throughout. The castle seems to have been destroyed in 1306 by Andrew Moray to prevent the English occupying it. It is unknown at what date the structure was restored, but its chapel was certainly built before 1487, as it was dedicated to the Virgin Mary in that year. After the Battle of Flodden (1513), Sir Robert Maule erected a new hall on the north side of the castle and built a round tower at the north-west angle. The building is supposed to have been habitable until the middle of the 17th century. The remains of the castle are thickly overgrown with trees and shrubs, etc, and the existing walls are in a crumbling condition. It has been an extensive structure with a complex plan of buildings surrounding four sides of a large courtyard, and abutting the enceinte wall, which varies in height from 2.0m in the south to 0.8m in the north, while the east and north sides are generally 1.5m high. On the south, it is 0.6m high internally, but externally the face of the wall is covered with a sloping bank 2.5m in height. Beyond this is a terrace 2.5m wide. These outer walls are 1.5m - 2.0m thick. Scarcely any walls of the two southern towers remain. The foundations of the buildings vary in height from mere courses of walls to a height of 1.2m in some places in the north range. The entrances to most buildings are exposed. The well within the courtyard is still extant, covered by an iron grille. Outside, and also within the enceinte, are mounds, most of which appear to be simply the refuse of excavations carried out on the castle, and flattened out on top as ornamental terraces. About 60m to the north, however, are outer defences in the form of a massive earthen rampart beyond which is a large water-filled moat. The rampart, which has been greatly effaced, is 16.0m broad and varies in height from 3.0m at the east to 5.0m at the west, where a narrow terrace gives access to the castle. The whole area of the castle is situated on a promontory with steep slopes all round, except on the north, where the moat has been added to complete the defences. A possible 17th century garden / designed landscape lies round the area.
Last Update18/11/2020
Updated Bycpalmer
Compiler 
Date of Compilation 

Google Map for NO53NW0010

National Grid Reference: NO 5444 3769



Event Details


Excavations and Surveys


Artefact and Ecofact

Ecofact

Samples
Palynology
Ecofact Notes

Monument Types

Monument Type 1Monument Type 2Monument Type 3OrderProbability
MOATS REMAINS OFB100
RAMPARTSEARTHENREMAINS OFC100
CHAPELS REMAINS OFD100
TOWERSSQUAREREMAINS OFE100
TOWERSROUNDREMAINS OFF100
TOWERSRECTANGULARREMAINS OFG100
COURTYARDS REMAINS OFH100
WELLS  I100
WALLSENCEINTEREMAINS OFJ100
GARDENS REMAINS OFK90
CASTLES REMAINS OFA100