LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
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HER: Dumfries & Galloway MDG7345 (None)
NMR: NY 19 SW 7 (66971)
SM: 12662
NGR: NY 1285 9086
X: 312850 Y: 590860 (OSGB36)
What is probably a fortified settlement displaying a complex sequence of at least three timber and earthwork perimeters is situated on gently sloping ground dropping into the lip of the steep NW flank of the SW spur of Broomhillbank Hill. The latest enclosure is oval on plan, and its interior measures about 80m from N to S by 69m transversely (0.4ha); around the E half of the circuit the perimeter comprises two low ramparts about 5m thick by 0.7m high accompanied by shallow ditches about 3m broad, but only the inner can be traced as a low scarp around the W half, and the way the two lines converge slightly towards the edge of the escarpment suggests that these too may represent more than one phase of construction. Nevertheless, there is a well-formed entrance on the SW, from which a worn hollow rises into the interior; apart from possible traces of cord rig, the interior is otherwise featureless. What are probably two earlier circuits can be seen outside the defences on the E, though in both cases degradation through later cultivation has created ambiguities in the relationships observed by field survey (see RCAHMS 1997, 127, fig 123). The inner comprises traces of a palisade trench, which seems to loop out from under the later defences for a distance of about 70m, while the outer is a low bank 5m in thickness flanked on both sides by shallow ditches 2.5m in breadth; a groove in the crest of this bank has been interpreted as possible evidence of another palisade trench. The projected circuit of this outer enclosure measures about 100m in diameter (0.78ha).
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -375250 Y: 7401620 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -3.370925556934666 Latitude: 55.20430790020341 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Dumfries & Galloway
Historic County: Dumfriesshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Applegarth
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: 250.0m
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: | Cord rig is visible in the interior |
First depicted in 1857 on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Dumfriesshire 1861, sheet 34.9), the fort was described and sketch-planned about 1890 by David Christison (Christison 1891, 249-50, fig 26), and subsequently described by Alexander Curle in 1912 for the County Inventory of Dumfriesshire (RCAHMS 1920, 4, no.10). It was planned by George Jobey in 1969 (Jobey 1971, 93 fig 13) and re-surveyed by the OS at 1:2500 in 1972. RCAHMS returned to plan it in greater detail in 1990 (RCAHMS 1997, 127, fig 123) and it was Scheduled in 2010. The earthworks have been photographed from the air by CUCAP, the RCAHMS Aerial Survey Programme, and by Jane Brann of Dumfries and Galloway Council.
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1857): | Annotated Fort on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Dumfriesshire 1861, sheet 34.9) |
| Earthwork Survey (1890): | Description and sketch-plan by David Christison (1891, 249-50, fig 26) |
| Other (1912): | Description (RCAHMS 1920, 4, no.10) |
| Earthwork Survey (1969): | George Jobey (Copies in RCAHMS DFD 332/1-2 P/CO) |
| Other (1972): | Resurveyed at 1:2500 by the OS |
| Earthwork Survey (1990): | Plan and description (RCAHMS 1997, 127, fig 123; RCAHMS DC32348 and SC1346163) |
| Other (2010): | Scheduled |
Featureless apart from traces of cord rig
None
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Cord rig
| 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 | ✗ |
Cord rig
| APs Not Checked | ✗ |
| None | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Other | ✓ |
See main summary
| 1: | None |
| 2: | In latest fort |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (South west): | None |
Low earthen ramparts with ditches, and palisade trenches
| Area 1: | 0.4ha. |
| Area 2: | 0.78ha. |
| Total: | 0.78ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 0.8ha.
None
| ✓ | None |
| ✓ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 2 |
| SE Quadrant: | 2 |
| SW Quadrant: | 1 |
| 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 |
| ✓ | Latest configuration of the fort |
Number of Ditches: 2
| ✓ | The outer enclosure is more likely to be the remains of an earlier perimeter than an annexe |
Christison, D (1891) 'A general view of the forts, camps, and motes of Dumfriesshire, with a detailed description of those in Upper Annandale, and an introduction to the study of Scottish motes', Proc Soc Antiq Scot 25 (1890-91), 198-256
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
RCAHMS (1997) Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Eastern Dumfriesshire: an archaeological landscape. 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