Publication Account

Date 1972

Event ID 684996

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Publication Account

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/684996

NO22NW 25 2436 2854

(NO 2436 2854) Motte, Barton Hill: This prominent mound, a plug of andesite 70 yds E of Kinnaird church, was the subject of a rescue excavation on behalf of the DoE in December 1971.

The summit of the mound measured 24.7m N-S by 18.4m transversely. The sides of the mound to N and E were long and precipitous but shorter to S and W. Excavation exposed all but the NE quadrant of the top of this mound.

The S half had been dished and here eleven rock-cut pits were found. Four averaged 1m in diameter and depth and were arranged on the corners of a quadrilateral aligned NW to SE measuring centre to centre an average of 4m. The remaining seven pits were smaller and were disposed three a side on three sides of a larger quadrilateral with the same alignment and measuring centre to centre an average of 6m. The SW pit of this arrangement was found to be linked to a rock-cut timber slot which extended half the distance along the NW side.

The larger pits of the inner setting held the timbers of a tower house surrounded by a post and log fence with an opening in the E half of the NW side.

The S end of the summit had been protected by a low drystone wall acting as an inner revetment to a wooden stockade.

The N end of the site had been roughly paved and from this area a quantity of domestic debris was recovered including 13th - 14th century pottery. There were also two pieces of Samian ware.

M Stewart 1972