Clough Castle

Coordinates: 54°17′25″N 5°49′56″W / 54.2904°N 5.8323°W / 54.2904; -5.8323

Clough Castle, October 2009

Clough Castle is the site of an Anglo-Norman Motte-and-bailey situated in Clough, County Down, Northern Ireland, near the junction of the A25 and A24 roads.^[1] Clough Castle Motte and bailey and tower are State Care Historic Monuments in the townland of Clough, in Down District Council area, at grid ref: J4092 4029.^[2]

Features

It is an excellent example of an Anglo-Norman earthwork castle with an added stone tower. A small kidney-shaped bailey lies south of a large mound, originally separated from it by a 2.1m deep ditch.^[1] On top of the 25ft high motte is a stone tower, enlarged to become a tower house in the 15th century. It is sited off-centre as much of the rest of the top of the motte was occupied by a large hall, which apparently burned down. Around the motte is a ditch, and on the south-east side a low crescent shaped bailey, which was probably once joined to the motte by a wooden bridge.^[3]

Excavations

Excavations on the summit of the mound in 1950 revealed that originally (in the late 12th or early 13th century) the top of the motte was surrounded by a timber palisade within which were pits for archers. Also found was the foundation of a long rectangular hall in the north-east half of the area, probably built in the mid 13th century. Later in the same century a small rectangular stone keep was built to the south-west, two storeys high and surviving to this day, having been conserved in 1981-82. In the late Middle Ages, after what appears to have been a period of disuse, it was restored and added to, resulting in an L-shaped tower house.^[1]

Gallery

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  Clough Castle, October 2009

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  Information board, Clough Castle, October 2009

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  Clough Castle, October 2009

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  Clough Castle, October 2009

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland (1983). Historic Monuments of Northern Ireland. Belfast: HMSO. p. 98. 
2. ^ "Clough Castle". Environment and Heritage Service NI - State Care Historic Monuments. http://www.ehsni.gov.uk/state_care_monuments_2007.pdf. Retrieved 2007-12-04. 
3. ^ Harbinson, P. (1992). Guide to National and Historic Monuments of Ireland. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan. p. 107.