Archaeology Notes

Event ID 732251

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/732251

NY29SE 8 25580 90520

(NY 2558 9052) Camp (NR)

OS 6" map (1957)

At Bailiehill, an enclosure, 360' NE-SW by 160' and defended by two ramparts and a medial ditch, contains an inner enclosure about 150' in diameter within what appears to be a ruined wall of considerable thickness.

Without excavation, it is not possible to determine whether this was a defended settlement with an outer annexe, or an earlier site upon which a later walled settlement has been superimposed. The differences in the defences would seem to imply the latter, yet there is a distinct possibility that the whole represents one work, the inner enclosure formed by the wall and containing the occupants' timber-built huts being surrounded by a defended area, formed by the ramparts and ditch, the space between being usable as a pen for animals. This kind of arrangement has been noted in connection with palisaded works, and there is no reason why it should not have persisted into the period when this type of defence was used.

RCAHMS 1920, visited 1912; RCAHMS Marginal Lands Survey 1955; R W Feachem 1965; G Jobey 1971.

This fort is one of the many which occur in the stretch of Eskdale above Langholm. It lies on a hill beside the by-road which follows the valley of the Water of Milk from Annandale to Eskdale, reaching the latter at the point where the Black and White Esks come together. It is almost certainly a work of two main structural periods, the inner enclosure probably being the later. This almost circular, measuring about 150 ft (46m) within a stony bank which is probably a ruined wall. This is spread to a maximum thickness of 20 ft (6.1m) and stands 5 ft (1.5m) high.

The enclosure thus formed lies within a larger one measuring 360 ft (110m) by 160 ft (49m) within two massive ramparts with a median ditch. This work probably represents the original fort, and the walled enclosure may be an example of similar structures which, where found farther E, have long been assumed to belong to the immediate post-Roman period.

R W Feachem 1963.

This fort is generally as described and planned by Jobey. The interior is disturbed, and only four timber house sites were located. No entrance is visible through the outer defences, its SE half having been destroyed by cultivation.

Resurveyed at 1/2500.

Visited by OS (DWR), 18 October 1973.

No change to previous field report.

Surveyed at 1:10,000.

Visited by OS (BS), 13 October 1978.

Scheduled as 'Camp Hill, fort, 175m WSW of Bailiehill... the remains of a multi-phase fort or defended settlement...'

Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 25 June 2010.