Dowan's Hill
Fort (Prehistoric)
Site Name Dowan's Hill
Classification Fort (Prehistoric)
Alternative Name(s) Downans Hill
Canmore ID 41667
Site Number NS31SW 5
NGR NS 34778 12487
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/41667
- Council South Ayrshire
- Parish Kirkmichael (Kyle And Carrick)
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Kyle And Carrick
- Former County Ayrshire
NS31SW 5 3477 1248
(NS 3477 1248) Dun (NR)
OS 6" map (1958)
This dun (Feachem) or fort (Smith) which Smith suggests is probably the original Dun Ree (Dunree: farm name at NS 349 128) occupies a conspicuous, flat-topped hill, 442ft OD. The summit of the knoll is surrounded by a grass-grown stony bank, up to 6ft in height and spread to a thickness of 20ft. It encloses an area 120ft by 100ft with an entrance in the WSW. The slight remains of two outer defences over the approach from the N. It is probable that the main wall was originally 10ft or 12ft. thick, but no precise measurements are available. Christison notes "some shapeless little mounds in the S half of the interior, and a large artificial-looking mound at the foot of the site to the E".
R W Feachem 1963; D Christison 1893; J Smith 1895
A small near-circular fort, generally as described, with two stony ramparts and the suggestion of a third around the N. There are indications of what may be huts within the interior.
Surveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (JLD) 8 December 1955 and (RD) 12 September 1968
The size and form of this work confirms it as a fort and not a dun. The principal rampart, with a single entrance and a later break in the NE, has a distinct internal quarry ditch, up to 0.4m deep, within most of its circuit. The second rampart is in fact a continuous terrace averaging 4.0m wide with a scarp up to 1.5m high but with no trace of a wall or ditch. This may be an unfinished defence together with another 10m. length of scarp, 0.5m high, on the outer N side.
The interior shows the amorphous undulations of occupation but no distinct levels or trace of timber/stone structures was identified. Revised at 25".
Visited by OS (JRL) 17 October 1980
Field Visit (29 April 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This site was included within the RCAHMS Marginal Land Survey (1950-1962), an unpublished rescue project.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.
Field Visit (August 1982)
Dowan's Hill, Dunree NS 347 124 NS31SW 5
On the summit of Dowan's Hill there is a circular fort measuring 35m in diameter within two stony ramparts. Immediately behind the inner rampart there is a series of quarry scoops, and the entrance is on the WNW. The interior contains the site of at least one timber house.
RCAHMS 1983, visited August 1982
(NSA, v, Ayr, 496; Christison 1893, 393; Smith 1895, 183)
Note (31 July 2014 - 16 November 2016)
This small fort occupies the western end of the elongated summit area of Dowan's Hill, where a shallow saddle connects the hill to an undulating plateau to the S. Roughly circular on plan, it measures 35m in diameter within two concentric ramparts, the inner of which forms a thick stony bank some 5m in thickness, and the outer a scarp about 1.5m in height. Parchmarks on an aerial photograph taken in 1975 suggest there is also an outer ditch. A series of interlocking quarry scoops about 0.4m in depth can be seen immediately to the rear of the inner rampart, and traces of the stance of at least one timber round-house can be detected within the interior. The entrance is on the WNW.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 16 November 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC1291
