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[This is one of a linked series of articles about Dumbarton Rock.]

The western curtain wall of Dumbarton Castle comes to an end here at Bower Battery, which was subject to reconstruction at the same time as the nearby Spanish Battery (see the previous article in this series).

No defensive walls are needed beyond this point, because the north-western corner of the Rock consists of precipitous slopes, which present a challenge even for modern-day climbers (two of whom were beginning an ascent below the Bower Battery when I took this photo).

For the slopes to the right, above the Bower Battery, see NS3974 : Dumbarton Rock: steep slopes of White Tower Crag.

In one of the notes at the end of his book "Dumbarton Castle", Dr I.M.M.MacPhail comments that "Buttock's or Buttocks Bower was the name applied facetiously to the area on the west side of the castle rock, where there were no buildings. In modern times, the more polite 'Bower Battery' referred only to the end of the western rampart" [p186].

Note, at the left, a stone projecting from the curving parapet of the Bower Battery; according to the 1958 version of the official guidebook, it is a corbel stone from a demolished Romer sentry box. The sentry box is shown on the "Plan of the Castle of Dunbarton" — Link (Archive Link ) (at NLS) — by Paul Sandby; this area, the Bower Battery, is at the far western part of the Rock, at the end of the defensive curtain wall.

The sky-blue buildings in the background are on Sandpoint, near the mouth of the River Leven, while the three tower blocks to their left are at West Bridgend ( Link ).

Previous: NS3974 : Dumbarton Castle: western curtain wall.
Next: NS3974 : Dumbarton Rock: White Tower Crag.