Doon Castle Broch is an

iron-age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly a ...

broch A broch is an Iron Age drystone hollow-walled structure found in Scotland. Brochs belong to the classification "complex Atlantic roundhouse" devised by Scottish archaeologists in the 1980s. Their origin is a matter of some controversy. Origin ...

located in

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the counties of Scotland, historic counties of ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

().

Location

The Broch is located on the

Rhins of Galloway gd, Na Rannaibh , photo = File:Luce Bay.jpg , photo_width = , photo_alt = , photo_caption = Looking south over the Rhins of Galloway towards Luce Bay , map = UK Scotland , map_width = ...

History

The broch was first recorded by archaeologists in 1912 by

RCAHMS The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) was an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government that was "sponsored" inanced and with oversightthrough Historic Scotland, an executive ...

in their 'Fourth Report and Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in Galloway'. It has since been mentioned in several other publications but has yet to have been excavated.

Description

Doon Castle broch is located on the south side of Ardwell Point, which projects out into the North Channel. An early description mentions that the broch is separated from the main land by a wall and natural gully (6 meters across and 2.3 meters deep) crossed by a man-made causeway (1.9 meters wide and 0.9 meters high). The remains of the broch are reasonably preserved, showing that the structure is 9 meters in diameter with walls 3–4 meters in thickness. On the northeast side the wall is preserved up to 1.8 meters in height. This broch had two entrances; one on the north-northeast side (which is blocked by fallen stones) and a second in the south side. These two entrances coincide with land and sea approaches. There is a chamber to the east, with a possible second chamber to the west. The extant remains of the chamber to the east consist of the sides of the entrance (measuring 0.8 meters at the mouth to 1.2 meters closer to the inner wall face). There is far less known about the possible west chamber. Between Doon Castle broch and the northern end of the point there are further archaeological remains, including a wall approximately 2.6 meters thick. This wall appears to enclose an area 14 meters (E-W) by 10 meters (N-S). This outer structure was likely entered in the north-northeast wall, which is situated opposite the manmade causeway.Feachem, R. (1977) Guide to prehistoric Scotland, London. Page: 174 Held at RCAHMS E.2.FEA

Archaeological Finds

Doon Castle Broch has not been excavated, with survey only revealing rubble in the interior.

Images

File:Doon Castle Broch at Ardwell Bay. - geograph.org.uk - 1023487.jpg, Doon Castle Broch at Ardwell Bay File:Doon Castle Broch 20100925 interior.jpg, Doon Castle Broch Interior File:Doon Castle Broch, High Ardwell Bay - geograph.org.uk - 137736.jpg, Doon Castle Broch File:Doon Castle Broch, High Ardwell. - geograph.org.uk - 75868.jpg, Doon Castle Broch

References

External links

* * ''The Modern Antiquarian''
Doon Castle (Broch)
{{Broch Brochs Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Dumfries and Galloway Rhins of Galloway