Tarbert Castle, Argyll: Community Excavations at a Royal Castle of Robert I

Authors: Roddy Regan

Contributors: Derek Hall, Andrew Morrison, Genoveva Dimova, Helen Newton & Ingrid Mainland and Dawn McLaren

Summary: An early historic C7th-C8th date recovered from a deposit sealed below the castle walls raises the intriguing possibility of the site being the ‘Tairpirt Boittir’ mentioned in the Irish annals.  The excavation work demonstrated that both the Inner Bailey and Outer Bailey of Tarbert Castle were likely constructed at the same time and not the result of two separate building campaigns as previously thought. The well-preserved medieval deposits that survive across the site, suggest the castle was occupied from the earlier 14th century and the excavated evidence indicates the construction of the castle is likely the work of Robert I. The excavation work has also revealed several important aspects of the construction and layout of the castle confirming the presence of two portcullis gates giving access into the Outer Bailey while shedding light on the corner tower at the southwest of the same enclosure.   The excavation also located the remains of one medieval building along with medieval deposits lying on the ridge south of the main castle, these likely confirming the presence of the medieval burgh previously postulated as being located in this area.  

Keywords: Castle, Burgh, Tarbert, Knapdale, Argyll, Medieval, Robert I, Excavation

Location: Tarbert (NR 86770 68730), Scotland, UK

Periods: Medieval

Canmore ID: Tarbert Castle 39316; Tarbert Medieval Burgh 39321

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Licence.