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Remains of motte and bailey castle dating to the late 12/13th century, the 'capital messuage' of Strathdon, one of the feudal lordships of the province of Mar. It appears to be sole surviving Scottish example of a motte with Norman stonework on its summit. The motte is oval in plan, measuring 76m by 36.6m and standing 18.3m high, surrounded by a ditch and bank. The counterscarp bank is enlarged on the west to form a crescentic platform, probably a bailey. A narrow bank round this is probably a palisade bank. A large bank to the north and west retained small lake to feed ditch, but this was drained in 1823. Excavation in 1855 by Alexander Walker revealed the piling of a drawbridge and a building supposed to have been a gatehouse. Further excavation in 1935 by the owner, F. L. Wallace, revealed a stone curtain wall around the summit of the motte, with an original entrance in the south. The gap in the north is modern. The remains of stone building on summit are almost certainly remains of a large Norman chapel where a Norman stoup was found. A circular limekiln is set into the outer bank in the northeast at NJ 3507 1294. A watching brief was maintained in 2004 to the north of the Doune, while a number of tree stumps were removed for landscaping and creation of a footpath. Work revealed no features apart from a stretch of walling constructed of rough boulders of an unknown date and function. Only finds were 19th and 20th century pottery. Site visit as part of a survey of limekilns of Upper Donside (2002-3) noted that the kiln survives as a grass covered mound with the remains of the lower structure under turf and grass. The draw hole has collapsed and the lintels are missing. The bowl is infilled with collapsed stonework and there is a spread of stones down the slope.
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Historic Environment Records (HER)