Bass of Inverurie

The Bass of Inverurie is the altered remains of an earth and timber castle erected for the lords of Garioch (pronounced Geerie) in the 12th century. The site is within a publicly accessible burial ground, and was landscaped in the 19th century in a way which has fundamentally changed the nature of the remains.

Consisting of two mounds separated by a deep dip today, these mounds were previously connected to form a structure with an upper and lower platform – which may have been separated by a shallow ditch. The whole was surrounded by a deep ditch with an upcast bank on the outside. It is likely that the two platforms each possessed a timber palisade, and that the lower contained a couple of large timber buildings, perhaps including a great hall, with the upper possessing a watch tower. During the alterations, remnants of a staircase were identified – but their location not recorded.

The castle remained in use into the 14th century, and was probably never brought back into use after the Wars of Independence, when Robert the Bruce (who held the castle at this time) would have destroyed it.

HES Canmore database entry

Bob Marshall reconstructions that I consulted on