Dumbarton Castle will be closed on weekdays from Monday 10 November - Friday 19 December whilst Historic Environment Scotland (HES) undertakes essential inspections of the external rock faces at the Castle, as well as remedial works.
To ensure the safety of members of the public, a section of Castle Road, south of the Dumbarton Football Club entrance, will be closed to vehicles and the pavement closed to pedestrians from 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday while the works are taking place. The road and pavement will be reopened outside of these hours, and Dumbarton Castle will be open to visitors at weekends.
A temporary route will be put in place to facilitate pedestrian access to the Dumbarton Rock Bowling Club.
A detailed rock face inspection and scaling works will be carried out to the rock face above Castle Road to remove any lose material and vegetation from both the rock face and the base of the slope. Surveys will also be carried out to inform the design of a permanent rock risk remediation solution, which is the first phase of a long-term plan to replace existing temporary safety measures.
As part of HES’s rock risk management, tactile inspections and scaling of the rockface at Dumbarton Castle is carried out on a scheduled basis, and this essential work follows on from routine works that were undertaken earlier this year.
David Borthwick, Head of South Region at HES, said:
“Management of the rock risk at Dumbarton Castle is a complex challenge. As well as protecting the public and the castle itself from the risk of rock falls, we must also maintain the condition and character of Dumbarton Rock which is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
“As part of our increased investment in Dumbarton Castle, we are working with specialist geo-technical engineers to design a permanent barrier solution for the roadway which we hope will help to reduce the time our routine rock inspections take in the future from several weeks to just a few days. This current inspection and scaling work is the first phase in this longer-term project.
“The safety of members of the public is of our utmost concern, and whilst we regret any inconvenience caused whilst this work is undertaken, we hope this will be overshadowed by the long-term benefits that this work will bring to Dumbarton Castle - one of Scotland’s most iconic historic sites.”
About Historic Environment Scotland (HES)
- We are the lead body for Scotland’s historic environment, a charity dedicated to the advancement of heritage, culture, education and environmental protection. It is at the forefront of researching and understanding the historic environment and addressing the impacts of climate change on its future, investigating and recording architectural and archaeological sites and landscapes across Scotland and caring for more than 300 properties of national importance. We are also the lead on delivering Scotland's strategy for the historic environment, Our Past, Our Future.
- Historic Scotland, trove.scot, The National Collection of Aerial Photography (NCAP), The Engine Shed, Stirling Castle, Edinburgh Castle and Stòr are sub-brands of HES.
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For further information, please contact:
Stacey Shaw
Historic Environment Scotland Media Office
07881 512 379
communications@hes.scot