Description

The monument comprises the remains of an apparently unfinished fort, dating from the Iron Age.

An earthen rampart and ditch form the semicircular western defences of a fort on Castle Hill, which forms a ridge on the SE side of the valley of the Dryfe Water. The defences indicate an approximate intended internal dimension for the fort, which could be described as sub-oval on plan, of c.53m from NE to SW by c.40m transversely. They comprise a rampart, which measures about 8m in thickness by up to 1.4m in height, accompanied by a rock-cut ditch which measures up to 3.9m in breadth by 0.4m in maximum depth. There is also a low counterscarp bank, up to 4m in thickness and 0.3m in height. An original entrance lies on the SW, where the ditch is interrupted by a causeway. The mound to the SE of the entrance passage appears to be all that survives of the intended rampart on the E side of the fort; there is no evidence to suggest that either the rampart or ditch has ever continued any further. An apparent causeway across the ditch on the NW is not matched by a corresponding gap in the rampart and may indicate the presence of an earlier phase of construction. To the E of this gap, both rampart and ditch are poorly preserved, but the position of a second entrance to the fort is indicated by the bulbous E terminal of the ditch on the NE, where it corresponds with the rampart terminal on the NE. The interior contains the possible traces of at least three timber houses, indicated by low earthen banks and grooves, all c.8m in diameter internally. However, that ring-bank to the SE, immediately within the southern entrance, may be no more than the denuded remains of a later turf sheep stell. A number of low mounds of earth and stone, which extend from the E side of the SW entrance across the interior to the SE side may be associated with the modern quarry-pits immediately to the E of the fort.

The area to be scheduled comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive. It is irregular on plan and measures a maximum of 105m from NE to SW by 88m transversely, as shown in red on the accompanying map extract.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

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Source: Historic Environment Scotland