LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
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HER: Dumfries & Galloway MDG3749 (None)
NMR: NX 65 SW 3 (64157)
SM: 7670
NGR: NX 6348 5307
X: 263480 Y: 553070 (OSGB36)
The remains of three lines of defence can be seen enclosing Doon Hill, and while the innermost encloses little more than 0.085ha, the outermost is a much bigger enclosure of about 1.37ha, and potentially represents one of the larger forts in Galloway rather than an annexe to the inner enclosures. The innermost rampart has been reduced to a thick stony bank enclosing an area measuring only 45m from NE to SW by 24m transversely (0.085ha) on the very summit of the hill. Lying roughly concentric to it there is a second rampart a short distance down the slope everywhere except the WNW; measuring about 6m in thickness, it is accompanied by an external ditch up to 6m in breadth. The entrance through this inner circuit of defences is on the SSE. The outermost rampart lies a further 40m beyond this line and while it was noted in passing by Frederick Coles in 1892 (1893, 143), it is otherwise only known from aerial photographs, which reveal traces of a rampart and ditch on the northern and south-western sectors of the circuit and an entrance on the SW; Coles suggests that it follows the contour, but no one has investigated its course since. The remains of two stone-walled round-houses can be seen on the summit, apparently overlying the innermost rampart.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -459540 Y: 7333538 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -4.128117067597712 Latitude: 54.85377236212559 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Dumfries & Galloway
Historic County: Kirkcudbrightshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Borgue
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: 125.0m
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: | None |
| Post Hillfort: | Internal round-houses probably overlie the innermost rampart |
First noted by OS surveyors in 1850 on the 1st edition OS 6-inch map (Kirkcudbrightshire 1854, sheet 50), the inner enclosures were sketch-planned by Frederick Coles about 1892 (1893, 142-3, fig 41) and appear in the County Inventory for The Stewartry (RCAHMS 1914, 43, no.57). They were re-surveyed by the OS at 1:2500 in 1972. Coles is the only one to mention the outermost enclosure.
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1850): | Named in Gothic Type on the 1st edition OS 6-inch map (Kirkcudbrightshire 1854, sheet 50) |
| Earthwork Survey (1892): | Sketch-plan and description (Coles 1893, 142-3, fig 41) |
| Other (1911): | Description (RCAHMS 1914, 43, no.57) |
| Other (1972): | Resurveyed at 1:2500 by the OS |
| Other (1998): | Scheduled |
Two stone round-houses probably overlying the innermost rampart.
None
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| 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
| 2: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (South east): | Through inner circuit |
| 2. Simple Gap (South west): | Through outermost circuit |
Three ramparts encircling the hill, the two outer accompanied by ditches and probably representing independent constructions.
| Area 1: | 0.1ha. |
| Area 2: | 1.37ha. |
| Total: | 1.37ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 1.4ha.
None
| ✗ | Inner 0.08ha; outer 1.37ha |
| ✓ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 3 |
| SE Quadrant: | 2 |
| SW Quadrant: | 3 |
| NW Quadrant: | 3 |
| Total: | 3 |
| 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 |
| ✓ | The two outer circuits, which may represent independent constructions, are accompanied by ditches. |
Number of Ditches: 2
| ✓ | While the outer enclosure might be construed as an annexe, it is perhaps more likely that it is a separate construction and a fortified enclosure of 1.37ha in its own right. |
Coles, F R (1893) 'The motes, forts, and doons in the east and west divisions of the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright', Proc Soc Antiq Scot 27, 92-182
RCAHMS (1914) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions of Scotland. Fifth report and inventory of monuments and constructions in Galloway, II, county of the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, 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