Crailloch Mote
Motte (Medieval), Settlement (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Crailloch Mote
Classification Motte (Medieval), Settlement (Period Unassigned)
Canmore ID 62916
Site Number NX35SW 9
NGR NX 3268 5261
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/62916
- Council Dumfries And Galloway
- Parish Mochrum
- Former Region Dumfries And Galloway
- Former District Wigtown
- Former County Wigtownshire
NX35SW 9 3268 5261.
(NX 3264 5260) Crailloch Mote (NR)
(NX 3264 5262) Castle Well (NAT)
OS 6" map (1957)
Mote of Crailloch is a partly artificial mound bearing the remains of a homestead with outworks. ONB refers to the 'track of an old house said to have been a castle on or near, the moat'. This gave the name to the adjacent well.
RCAHMS 1912, visited 1911; R W Feachem 1956; Name Book 1848
NX 3268 5261 At the eastern end of a low ridge is a small homestead typical of a group previously known only in the area of Kirkcudbright some 30 miles to the E. It appears as a rocky hillock with an artificially levelled top, 10.0m in diameter, and a rock cut ditch 3.0m wide and 1.7m deep around the base on all but the NW side. Around the top are the grass-covered remains of a wall 1.0m wide and 0.3m high. The 'outworks' consist of an enclosure on the SE, 20.0m EW by 10.0m transversely formed by an unfaced stone wall spread to 2.5m and short sections of similar walling to the NW and SE. It is doubtful if these walls are associated with the homestead, and it is more likely that they represent the remains of old farm enclosures. The ONB reference to the footings of a 'castle' would appear to be either to part of these walls or the wall on top of the 'Mote'. The so-called 'Castle Well' is a now dried-up spring. Names not confirmed.
Surveyed at 1:10 000.
Visited by OS (BS) 7 July 1976
Field Visit (27 September 1953)
This site was included within the RCAHMS Marginal Land Survey (1950-1962), an unpublished rescue project. Site descriptions, organised by county, are available to view online - see the searchable PDF in 'Digital Items'. These vary from short notes, to lengthy and full descriptions. Contemporary plane-table surveys and inked drawings, where available, can be viewed online in most cases - see 'Digital Images'. The original typecripts, notebooks and drawings can also be viewed in the RCAHMS search room.
Information from RCAHMS (GFG) 19 July 2013.