LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
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HER: Dumfries & Galloway MDG7554 (None)
NMR: NY 28 SW 5 (67225)
SM: 12663
NGR: NY 2240 8116
X: 322400 Y: 581160 (OSGB36)
This fortified settlement is situated on the hillock that rises up on the W side of the Mein Water NW of Minsca. Roughly circular on plan, it measures about 61m in diameter within a single rampart with an external ditch. These defences are best preserved on the S, where they were shielded from the worst excesses of later cultivation by the presence of another settlement, though this too was largely ploughed out in the 19th century before the preparation of the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Dumfriesshire 1862, sheet 52.1). Nevertheless, the rampart here still stands up to 0.9m high internally and 2.4m above the bottom of the ditch, which is at least 5m in breadth by 1.5m in depth. Elsewhere the defences have been severely reduced, almost disappearing on the W where evidence of later cultivation can be seen riding up over the SW third of the interior. Despite this, the remaining part of the interior contains evidence of at least five ring-ditch houses and reveals a complex history of enclosure, notably to the W of the entrance on the NE, from which a deeply-hollowed trackway climbs up into its centre. Three of the ring-ditch houses lie to the NW of the trackway, and the northernmost not only overlies a palisade trench, but is also cut by the internal quarry scoop that can be traced immediately behind the rampart in this sector; this quarry scoop also cuts a second palisade trench that can be seen running back towards the entrance. The later settlement on the S is oval on plan and its interior measures about 40m from NNW to SSE by 30m transversely. Its perimeter comprises twin banks with a medial ditch, which are best preserved at the junction with the earlier ditch of the fortified settlement, but can also be detected around the southern quadrant.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -358254 Y: 7384948 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -3.218246975862437 Latitude: 55.11875630701242 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Dumfries & Galloway
Historic County: Dumfriesshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Middlebie
None
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✓ |
None
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✓ |
| Arable | ✓ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| Contour Fort | ✓ |
| Partial Contour Fort | ✗ |
| Promontory Fort | ✗ |
| Hillslope Fort | ✗ |
| Level Terrain Fort | ✗ |
| Marsh Fort | ✗ |
| Multiple Enclosure Fort | ✗ |
| Hilltop | ✓ |
| Coastal Promontory | ✗ |
| Inland Promontory | ✗ |
| Valley Bottom | ✗ |
| Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop | ✓ |
| Ridge | ✗ |
| Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp | ✗ |
| Hillslope | ✗ |
| Lowland | ✗ |
| Spur | ✗ |
Dominant Topographic Feature: None
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✓ |
Altitude: 242.0m
N/A
In the absence of excavation, there are neither stratified artefacts nor radiocarbon dates to provide a chronology for the defences.
Reliability: D - None
| Pre 1200BC | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50 | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400 | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800 | ✗ |
| Post AD800 | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✓ |
| Pre Hillfort: | Palisaded enclosures |
| Post Hillfort: | Overridden by a second settlement enclosure on the S |
First depicted on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Dumfriesshire 1862, sheet 52.1), it was described by Alexander Curle in 1912 for the County Inventory of Dumfriesshire (RCAHMS 1920, 167, no. 465). It was surveyed in the late 1960s by George Jobey in his work in eastern Dumfriesshire (Jobey 1971) and resurveyed at 1:2500 by the OS in 1970. It has been photographed from the air by CUCAP, and on four occasions by RCAHMS, revealing the settlement enclosure that overrides its ditch on the S. It was revisited by RCAHMS in 1995. Both enclosures were Scheduled in 2010.
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1857): | Annotated Fort on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Dumfriesshire 1862, sheet 52.1) |
| Other (1912): | Description (RCAHMS 1920, 167, no. 465) |
| Other (1970): | Resurveyed at 1:2500 by the OS |
| Earthwork Survey (1971): | George Jobey (copy in RCAHMS DFD 350/1 P/CO) |
| Other (1995): | Description by RCAHMS |
| Other (2010): | Scheduled |
Evidence of at least five ring-ditch houses and two palisade trenches
None
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Ring-ditch houses
| No Known Features | ✗ |
| Round Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Rectangular Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Curvilinear Platforms | ✗ |
| Other Roundhouse Evidence | ✓ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| No Known Excavation | ✓ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
| Nothing Found | ✗ |
None
| No Known Geophysics | ✓ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
| Nothing Found | ✗ |
None
| No Known Finds | ✓ |
| Pottery | ✗ |
| Metal | ✗ |
| Metalworking | ✗ |
| Human Bones | ✗ |
| Animal Bones | ✗ |
| Lithics | ✗ |
| Environmental | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| APs Not Checked | ✗ |
| None | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✓ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
See main summary
| 1: | Extensively ploughed down perimeter |
| 2: | and conceivably a second entrance has been lost on the SW |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (North east): | None |
Rampart and ditch, but with fragments of two earlier palisade trenches visible within the interior
| Area 1: | 0.28ha. |
| Total: | 0.28ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 0.49ha.
None
| ✓ | Complex sequence between the internal houses, a palisade trench and the internal quary behind the rampart |
| ✓ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 1 |
| SE Quadrant: | 1 |
| SW Quadrant: | 1 |
| NW Quadrant: | 1 |
| Total: | 1 |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✓ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
None
| None | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank | ✓ |
| Stone Wall | ✗ |
| Rubble | ✗ |
| Wall-walk | ✗ |
| Evidence of Timber | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✓ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✗ |
| Berm | ✗ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| None | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank | ✗ |
| Stone Wall | ✗ |
| Murus Duplex | ✗ |
| Timber-framed | ✗ |
| Timber-laced | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✗ |
| Berm | ✗ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| No Known Excavation | ✓ |
| Other | ✗ |
| ✗ | None |
| ✓ | None |
Number of Ditches: 1
| ✓ | This is a secondary settlement enclosure which has been almost ploughed flat, but can still be detected where its ditch cuts through the earlier counterscarp and a short sector of its bank gives the impression of a fragment of a counterscarp rampart; this was first described by Alexander Curle in 1912, though, unaware of the presence of the second enclosure, he did not understand the significance of his observations (RCAHMS 1920, 167, no. 465). It measures about 40m from N to S by 30m transversely (0.1ha) within twin banks and a medial ditch. |
Jobey, G (1971) 'Early settlements in eastern Dumfriesshire'. Trans Dumfriesshire Galloway Natur Hist Antiq Soc, 3 Ser, 48 (1971), 78-105
RCAHMS (1920) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Seventh Report with Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in the County of Dumfries. HMSO: Edinburgh
Atlas of Hillforts:
Wikidata:
This work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
and should be cited as:
Lock, Gary and Ralston, Ian. 2024. Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland. Available at: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk
Document Version 1.1