Site of Dromline Castle

On the NW edge of a flat topped hill, in pasture. An earthwork (TS067-033----) is visible 330m to the SW. The area immediately E of the castle has been quarried out and forms a deep hollow. According to the OS Letters (c. 1840) 'The walls of the Castle were formerly pulled down and the stones taken away for building the old residence known by the name of Spring House, which name is retained in the present residence of John Lowe, Esq.' (O'Flanagan 1930, vol.2, 109). The castle is of limestone with a rubble core and both the internal and external facing is gone. Only the S end of the E wall (L 8.2m; H 2m; T 1.6m, though described by in the OS letters as 2.4m T) survives, running roughly N-S, though the wall, in the form of a grassed-over bank continues northward for a further 5m, terminating at the edge of the summit where there is a natural fall in ground level. There is a slight rise in ground level running E-W along the top edge of the slope for c. 12m, which may be the remains of the former north wall. Only a short length of the S wall remains (L 1.6m; T 1.2m) at the SE angle, running westward. The castle was fenced off with electric fencing and is overgrown with scrub and nettles. The summit of the hill has an undulating surface with lots of small hillocks and hollows, but no definable features. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 26 August 2011