File:Dumbarton Rock, sentry box and curtain wall - geograph.org.uk - 1381489.jpg

The previous article in this series showed the location of a powder magazine that was built in 1748. That structure replaced an earlier magazine that had been built in the late seventeenth century; it stood against the near side of the portion of curtain wall that is shown in this photo [HD, p75]. That building, in turn, had replaced an even earlier magazine (or ammunition house) that stood on the summit of the eastern peak (close to the point from which this photo was taken), but which had been damaged by a severe storm in November 1675 [MacPhail, p133].

The sentry box visible in this photo dates from 1735, and is presumably the work of Captain John Romer; compare the very similar sentry box (also built in 1735) in King George's Battery: https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1380091 [OSG07, p5].

Of the two peaks of Dumbarton Rock, the western peak (White Tower Crag) is thought to be much too steep to have served as anything more than a look-out post in the Early Historic period [HD, p11, 71]; see 1381575. An archaeological excavation performed in 1974-5, looking for remains from that period, therefore concentrated on the eastern summit (known as the Beak, it is the summit on which this photo was taken). Such investigations are hampered by the effects of building and rebuilding that have taken place on the Rock throughout the centuries since then.

It had been thought that the eastern summit might prove to have been the site of a nuclear fort (in these, a summit citadel overlooks a series of enclosures located further down the hill; examples are found at Dunadd NR8393 and Dundurn NN7023). However, the 1974-5 excavations disproved the idea that the fortress at Dumbarton Rock was of that type; the natural defences of the Rock apparently made such a system of enclosures unnecessary.

One of the most significant finds was made on the north-eastern side of the Rock, outside the present curtain wall (i.e., on the far side of the section of wall that appears in this photo): namely, traces of a timber-and-rubble rampart that appears to have been destroyed by fire. The area on the far side of the wall is well illustrated here: https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/85235

For full details of these excavations, and of the resulting finds and conclusions, see the following paper (which interested readers may be able to find online):

"Reconnaissance excavations on Early Historic fortifications and other royal sites in Scotland, 1974-84: 4, Excavations at Alt Clut, Clyde Rock, Strathclyde, 1974-75", by Leslie Alcock and Elizabeth A Alcock [PSAS (Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland), Vol 120 (1990), pages 95-149]

Previous: 1381466.