Dundarg Castle

The 10th-century Book of Deer records the existence of a cathair or fortified place at Aberdour. It was built in the 13th century by the Comyn family, but was dismantled, probably by Robert the Bruce, in 1308. It was rebuilt in 1334 by Alice Comyn, Countess of Buchan and her husband Henry de Beaumont, but slighted almost immediately, after a famous siege by Sir Andrew Moray. Many medieval objects providing evidence of this double destruction were found in excavations in 1911-12 and 1950-51, led by W. Douglas Simpson. The only substantial part of the castle remaining is the inner gatehouse, which survives to a height of about 18 ft. The upper part was rebuilt in the middle of the 16th…

The site consists of a triangle of gently sloping ground flanked by steep slopes on all sides, linked to a flat-topped elongated promontory extending to the north-east, surrounded by 20 m high sandstone cliffs. Its name comes from the Gaelic dun dearg, meaning red fort or castle, referring to the colour of the sandstone.