Drought Castle (in Ruins)

On a hummock in undulating grassland, some 70m to the W of a stream. In existence in 1574 when it was in the possession of Walter Wall (Nolan 1901, 121). Only the S wall (int. L 7.9m; H 2.55m) and sections of the E (L 5.5m; H 1.95m; wall T 1.55m) and W (L 12.5m; max. H 2m) walls survive of this poorly preserved tower house; the N end of the W wall is reduced to a mound of rubble and there is no visible surface trace of the N wall. The walls are constructed of regularly coursed roughly cut rectangular mortared limestone blocks of limestone. Parts of the external wall-face has collapsed on all three walls, exposing the rubble core. Traces of internal render are visible. Apart from a blocked-up aperature (Wth 1.7m), roughly centrally located in the S wall, no architectural features are visible. Rubble has been piled against S end of the external face of the E wall and internally against the SW corner and the N end of the W wall. A later stone wall runs S from the SW corner and a later rectangular structure (4.45m N-S; 2m E-W; wall T 0.7m) was built against the S end of the W wall. Compiled by: Olive Alcock Date of upload: 17 August 2021

Built or held by Walter Wall in 1574, Drought Castle is remembered as a historical landmark indicating medieval landholding patterns in the region, though its full history remains obscure due to limited surviving records.