The Big Dig at Caherduggan Castle: Find of the Week #2

Gutter Stones projecting from the walls at Edinburgh Castle, Scotland

The castle that once stood on our site was demolished around the middle of the 19th century. When this big stone tower was knocked down we believe that most of the shaped or carved stone was taken away to be re-used in other buildings in the locality. 

Occasionally we find pieces of stone that were shaped in a special way to serve a purpose in the castle. This week we found just such a stone. We believe this may have been a gutter outlet which would have been built into the wall near the roof of the tower. This would have been at the end of the gutter. During wet weather rain would gather in the gutter and flow down to the gutter outlet which channeled the water away from the walls. This shows us just how clever medieval builders were!

The Caherduggan Castle Gutter Stone