Durris Castle or the House of Dores was an early royal residence on southern bank of the River Dee

River Dee, Aberdeenshire

The River Dee is a river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It rises in the Cairngorms and flows through Strathdee to reach the North Sea at Aberdeen...

 in Aberdeenshire

Aberdeenshire

Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives. Together, the modern council area and the city formed historic...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

.

Dating from at least the 13th century, the castle, a motte and bailey, was occupied by Alexander III

Alexander III of Scotland

Alexander III was King of Scots from 1249 to his death.-Life:...

 and is mentioned in the Chamberlain Rolls of the time as the subject of repairs.

It was burned by the Marquis of Montrose in 1645 and not rebuilt.

No remains of the castle exist today, but the 7 metre high conical knoll

Hillock

A hillock or knoll is a small hill, usually separated from a larger group of hills such as a range. Hillocks are similar in their distribution and size to small mesas or buttes. The term is largely a British one...

on which it stood retains the name castle hill. The hill has a flattened summit measuring 41 metres by 30 metres, and its sides may have been artificially steepened. Evidence remains on the western side of the site of a 2.6 metre ditch, possibly a moat.