Drum Castle. Photograph by Michael Sean Gallagher
Archaeologists have found a secret medieval chamber in at the 700-year old Drum Castle in Scotland.
Drum Castle has the oldest keep in Scotland, and was donated to the National trust in 1975 after being in the Irvine Clan for centuries with the land given to them by Robert the Bruce.
The trust are planning to replace some cement pointing in the 700-year old tower with traditional more breathable lime mortar for preservation, and it was during the initial archaeological investigations before these repairs that the discoveries were made.
The archaeologists could see that there were windows on the outside of the tower that could not be seen on the inside, but when they unblocked the windows they found a secret chamber with the remnants of a guarderobe, a traditional toilet.
In further investigations a second chamber has been discovered which is where legend says that Mary Irvine hid her brother for three years after the defeat in the Battle of Culloden.