LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
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HER: Dumfries & Galloway MDG4016 (None)
NMR: NX 74 NW 4 (64438)
SM: 1059
NGR: NX 7254 4894
X: 272540 Y: 548940 (OSGB36)
This small fortification occupies a rocky steep-sided hillock with a rough summit measuring a maximum of 50m from NE to SW by 24m transversely (0.09ha). While the scarp dropping away from the lip of the summit provides a natural line of defence, on the S and W falling into the bottom of a ditch some 1.8m in depth and flanked by an external bank, there is some doubt as to the precise course of the inner rampart. OS surveyors in 1971 were of the opinion that the traces of a heavily robbed wall 3m thick visible on the summit enclosed a much smaller area measuring no more than 20m from NE to SW by 15.5m transversely, but RCAHMS investigators in 1952 merely recorded that the defences comprised twin ramparts with a medial ditch, inferring that they regarded the edge of the summit as the position of the inner rampart, while their predecessors in 1911 seem to have conflated both the traces observed by the OS and the southern end of the hillock into a single circuit (1914, 235-6, no.414). Given the heavily disturbed character of the remains, it is likely that the remains represent two separate phases of construction, the earlier a small fort taking in the whole of the summit, and the later a small stone-walled structure on the summit, identified by the OS as a dun. In 1911 the RCAHMS investigators also noted a circular depression adjacent to rock outcrops within the interior. Groups of cup-and-ring marks have been noted on the rock outcrops on the summit (Naddair 1992).
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Unconfirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -443638 Y: 7326830 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -3.9852638638444646 Latitude: 54.819070428896346 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Dumfries & Galloway
Historic County: Kirkcudbrightshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Rerrick
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: 152.0m
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: | Cup-and-ring marks on outcrops. |
| Post Hillfort: | None |
First depicted in 1849 on the 1st edition OS 6-inch map (Kirkcudbrightshire 1854, sheet 51), it was noted by Frederick Coles about 1890 (1891, 365) and described in 1911 by RCAHMS for the County Inventory of the Stewartry (RCAHMS 1914, 235-6, no.414). Revisited by RCAHMS in 1952, it was re-surveyed at 1:2500 by the OS in 1971. The cup-and-ring marks were found by K Naddair in 1992 and relocated by M van Hoek in 1994.
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1849): | Annotated Fort on the 1st edition OS 6-inch map (Kirkcudbrightshire 1854, sheet 51) |
| Other (1890): | Description (Coles 1891, 365) |
| Other (1911): | Description (RCAHMS 1914, 235-6, no.414) |
| Other (1937): | Scheduled |
| Other (1952): | Description for RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands |
| Other (1971): | Resurveyed at 1:2500 by the OS |
| Other (1992): | Cupmarks recorded (Naddair 1992) |
Amongst the outcrops in the interior in 1911 RCAHMS noted a circular depression.
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 | ✗ |
None known
| 0: | None |
| 2: | None known |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
Heavily robbed inner wall with external ditch and outer rampart at one end.
| Area 1: | 0.09ha. |
| Total: | 0.09ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✓ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 1 |
| SE Quadrant: | 1 |
| SW Quadrant: | 2 |
| NW Quadrant: | 1 |
| Total: | 2 |
| 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
| ✗ | None |
Coles, F R (1891) The motes, forts, and doons of The Stewartry of Kirkcudbright. Proc Soc Antiq Scotland 25, 352-96
Naddair, K (1992) 'Castlecreavie dun 2A (Kirkcudbright parish)', Disc Exc Scot 1992, 26
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
van Hoek, M (1994) 'Castlecreavie dun (Kirkcudbright parish)', Disc Exc Scot 1994, 5
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