Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC0229: Carghidown Castle  

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HER:  Dumfries & Galloway MDG2770

NMR:  NX 43 NW 8 (63132)

SM:  

NGR:  NX 4356 3507

X:  243560  Y:  535070  (EPSG:27700)

Boundary:  

Summary

This small promontory work is situated on the exposed SW coast of the Machars and its extent has evidently been severely reduced by erosion, now measuring no more than 0.04ha in extent internally. The ground drops into the promontory from the NE and consequently the bank drawn across its neck, which in excavation was 3m thick and up to 0.6m high and was fronted by a steep-sided external ditch 3m broad and over 1.5m deep, does not form an impressive barrier when approached from the landward side. The entrance lay between the eastern terminal of the rampart and the cliff-edge on the E. Prior to excavation, the interior, which measured about 28.5m from NE to SW by 24m transversely when described by the OS in 1973, contained two scooped platforms, both of which seem to have been the stances for round-houses. In 2004 excavation of the platform at the seaward tip of the promontory revealed a complex fourfold sequence in which an earth and stone wall had been replaced in timber and the floor had been relaid on several occasions. The five c-14 dates, which broadly span the period 360 BC - AD 60 come from this sequence, but in some instances probably from contexts with mixed charcoal assemblages. Apart from a number of coarse stone tools, the finds include three lead beads, which are very unusual items from any Iron Age sites in Scotland.

Status

Citizen Science:  ✗  

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed:  Though the bank and ditch across its neck are of relatively slight proportions and it has probably never reached the 0.2ha threshold, its position is typical of other small promontory forts.

Location

X:  -492969  Y:  7301225  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -4.428419  Latitude:  54.686327  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Dumfries & Galloway

Historic County:   Wigtownshire

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Whithorn

Condition

Extant:  
Cropmark:  
Likely Destroyed:  

Land Use

Woodland:  
Commercial Forestry Plantation:  
Parkland:  
Pasture (Grazing):  
Arable:  
Scrub/Bracken:  
Bare Outcrop:  
Heather/Moorland:  
Heath:  
Built-up:  
Coastal Grassland:  
Other:  

Landscape

Hillfort Type

Contour Fort:  
Partial Contour Fort:  
Promontory Fort:  
Hillslope Fort:  
Level Terrain Fort:  
Marsh Fort:  
Multiple Enclosure Fort:  

Topographic Position

Hilltop:  
Coastal Promontory:  
Inland Promontory:  
Valley Bottom:  
Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop:  
Ridge:  
Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp:  
Hillslope:  
Lowland:  
Spur:  

Dominant Topographic Feature:  

Aspect

North:  
Northeast:  
East:  
Southeast:  
South:  
Southwest:  
West:  
Northwest:  
Level:  

Elevation

Altitude:  25.0m

Boundary

Boundary Type:  

Second HER:  

Second Current County or Unitary Authority:  

Second Historic County:  

Second Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  

Dating Evidence

Five C14 dates from contexts bracketing a fourfold sequence in a single round-house within the interior, but by Toolis's own commentary 'do not illuminate the stratigraphic sequence very well' (2007, 301). No dates from the perimeter, though it appears stratigraphically as an addition to an already occupied settlement.

Reliability:  B - Medium

Pre 1200BC:  
1200BC - 800BC:  
1200BC - 800BC:  
400BC - AD50:  
AD50 - AD400:  
AD400 - AD 800:  
Post AD800:  
Unknown:  

Pre Hillfort Activity:  ✗  

Post Hillfort Activity:  ✗  

C14:  No details.

Investigations

Named in 1849 for the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Wigtownshire 1850, sheet 37), and described in 1870 as 'covering 1/2 acre' (M'Kerlie 1870, 489), the first real depiction is in 1894 on the 25-inch (Wigtownshire 1895, sheet 35.15), subsequently clarified in 1906 (Wigtownshire 1908, sheet 35.15). It escaped the RCAHMS County Inventory of 1912. It was re-surveyed by the OS at 1:2500 in 1973 and evaluated for coastal erosion in 1996 (Toolis 2003, 46-7), subsequently leading to a programme of geophysical survey and excavation in 2003-4 (Toolis 2003-4).

1st Identified Map Depiction (1849):  Named in Gothic type on the 1st edition OS 6-inch map (Wigtownshire 1850, sheet 37)
Other (1894):  25-inch depiction (Wigtownshire 1895, sheet 35.15)
Other (1973):  Resurveyed at 1:2500 by the OS
Earthwork Survey (1996):  Toolis 2003, 46-7, fig 5
Geophysical Survey (2003):  and evaluation Toolis (2003)
Excavation (2004):  Toolis 2004

Interior Features

Two stone-walled round-houses

Water Source

None:  
Spring:  
Stream:  
Pool:  
Flush:  
Well:  
Other:  

Surface

No Known Features:  
Round Stone Structures:  
Rectangular Stone Structures:  
Curvilinear Platforms:  
Other Roundhouse Evidence:  
Pits:  
Quarry Hollows:  
Other:  

Excavation

Four phases identified within one of the round-houses

No Known Excavation:  
Pits:  
Postholes:  
Roundhouses:  
Rectangular Structures:  
Roads/Tracks:  
Quarry Hollows:  
Other:  
Nothing Found:  

Geophysics

Content unknown

No Known Geophysics:  
Pits:  
Roundhouses:  
Rectangular Structures:  
Roads/Tracks:  
Quarry Hollows:  
Other:  
Nothing Found:  

Finds

Three lead beads Saddle quern Coarse stone tools

No Known Finds:  
Pottery:  
Metal:  
Metalworking:  
Human Bones:  
Animal Bones:  
Lithics:  
Environmental:  
Other:  

Aerial

APs Not Checked:  
None:  
Roundhouses:  
Rectangular Structures:  
Pits:  
Postholes:  
Roads/Tracks:  
Other:  

Entrances

See main summary

Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts:  

Number of Possible Original Entrances:   

Guard Chambers:  

Chevaux de Frise:  ✗  

Entrance 1 (Northeast):  Simple Gap:  At eastern end of rampart

Enclosing Works

Rampart and external ditch cutting off the promontory.

Enclosed Area 1:  0.04ha.
Enclosed Area 2:  
Enclosed Area 3:  
Enclosed Area 4:  
Total Enclosed Area:  0.0ha.

Total Footprint Area:  

Multi-period Enclosure System:  ✗  Clearly heavily eroded

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:  ✗  

Number of Ramparts:  1

Number of Ramparts NE Quadrant:  1
Number of Ramparts SE Quadrant:  
Number of Ramparts SW Quadrant:  
Number of Ramparts NW Quadrant:  

Current Morphology

Partial Univallate:  
Univallate:  
Partial Bivallate:  
Bivallate:
Partial Multivallate:  
Multivallate:  
Unknown:  

Multi-period Morphology

Partial Univallate:  
Univallate:  
Partial Bivallate:  
Bivallate:  
Partial Multivallate:  
Multivallate:  

Surface Evidence

None:  
Earthen Bank:  
Stone Wall:  
Rubble:  
Wall-walk:  
Evidence of Timber:  
Vitrification:  
Other Burning:  
Palisade:  
Counter Scarp Bank:  
Berm:  
Unfinished:  
Other:  

Excavated Evidence

Reported to have had a rubble cap which had collapsed into the ditch (Toolis 2004)

None:  
Earthen Bank:  
Stone Wall:  
Murus Duplex:  
Timber-framed:  
Timber-laced:  
Vitrification:  
Other Burning:  
Palisade:  
Counter Scarp Bank:  
Berm:  
Unfinished:  
No Known Excavation:  
Other:  

Gang Working

Gang Working:  ✗ 

Ditches

Ditches:  

Number of Ditches:  1

Annex

Annex:  ✗  

References

M'Kerlie, P H (1870) History of the lands and their owners in Galloway, , vol.1 Edinburgh

Toolis, R (2003) 'Carghidown (Whithorn parish), promontory fort', Discovery Excav Scot 4, 51

Toolis, R (2004) 'Carghidown (Whithorn parish), promontory fort', Discovery Excav Scot 5, 40

Toolis, R (2007) 'Intermittent occupation and forced abandonment: excavation of an Iron Age promontory fort at Carghidown, Dumfries and Galloway'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 137, 265-318

Terms of Use

The online version of the Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland should be cited as:

Lock, G. and Ralston, I. 2017.  Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland. [ONLINE] Available at: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk.

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