White Hill
Enclosure (Post Medieval), Fort (Prehistoric), Pen (Post Medieval), Settlement (Iron Age)
Site Name White Hill
Classification Enclosure (Post Medieval), Fort (Prehistoric), Pen (Post Medieval), Settlement (Iron Age)
Alternative Name(s) Stotfield Gill; River Annan; Corehead
Canmore ID 48498
Site Number NT01SE 6
NGR NT 0757 1175
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/48498
- Council Dumfries And Galloway
- Parish Moffat
- Former Region Dumfries And Galloway
- Former District Annandale And Eskdale
- Former County Dumfries-shire
NT01SE 6 0757 1175
(NT 0757 1175) Fort (NR)
OS 6" map, (1962)
Fort, White Hill: This fort is oval on plan and consists of two concentric systems of defence. The inner is represented by a rubble mound, mostly grass-covered, measuring c. 200' N-S by 125' E-W. The mound is probably a ruined wall of unknown thickness, all facing stones having either been removed or covered in debris. The 7' wide entrance is in the ESE. The outer system, between 10' and 30' from the inner, consists of two grass-covered ramparts and medial ditch. Each rampart is up to c. 20' in width, and stands to a maximum height of 3' above the bottom of the ditch. That they were stone-faced rubble constructions is suggested by the presence of two stretches of outer facing stones that protrude through the turf, one in the S arc of the inner rampart, 22' long, and the other, 36' long, in the SE arc of the outer rampart. The ramparts meet round the ends of the ditch on either side of the entrance, which is in the E. The entrance passage, 9' wide, is bordered on either side by a row of earthfast stones protruding through the turf. Those on the N side of the passage form a line 20' in length, while those on the S, which run for 18', appear to join on to a wall, 12' in length and 5' wide, running thence towards the interior of the fort. What may be the fragmentary remains of a further stretch of this wall appear after an 8' gap, and may originally have joined it to the narrow ruinous inner defence. To the N, the space between the entrances is partly occupied by a stony heap which may conceal the ruin of a similar wall; but the use of parts of the interior for depositing stones cleared from the surrounding fields obscures the details. It is impossible to say whether the two systems of he defence are all of one constructional phase or not. The differences in character might suggest that they are not contemporary, but they may still reprsent a modification under one continuous occupation.
RCAHMS, visited 1955 (typescript)
This fort is situated on a low ridge in Annandale where this is bordered by the steep hillsides that end in the Devil's Beef Tub, 1 ile to the NE. It is a structure of two phases; the outer and probably earlier work consists of a pair of ramparts with a median ditch enclosing an area measuring axially 230 ft (70.1m) by 180 ft (54.9m), with an entrance in the E. The inner work, lying entirely within the enclosure thus formed, consists of a now-ruinous wall surrounding an area measuring 170 ft (51.8m) in length by 125 ft (38.1m ) in width, with an entrance in the ESE.
R W Feachem 1963.
There is a distinct possibility that the whole respresents one work (a defended settlement), the inner enclosure formed by the wall and containing the occupants' houses being surrounded by a defended area formed by the ramparts and ditch, the space between being usable as a pen for beasts. This kind of arrangement has been noted in connection with palisaded works, and there is no reason why it should not have persisted into this period.
R W Feachem 1965
This site is generally as described by the RCAHMS although its non-defensive situation on flat ground and the weak construction of the rampart are suggestive of a settlement rather that a fort. There is no trace of a wall which allegedly links the outer and inner banks nor is there any evidence that the banks are not contemporary. On the W side there is no sign of the ditch and counter-scarp bank which may have
been destroyed by ploughing although it is possible that it was never constructed.
Resurveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (I A) 20 September 1973
No change to previous field report.
Visited by OS (J R L) 18 August 1978.
This monument comprises the remains of a defended settlement (or lightly walled fort) on the summit of the low eminence called White Hill. There has been extensive dumping on the monument of stone cleared from nearby fields.
Information from Hiistoric Scotland, scheduling information dated May 1995.
Field Visit (6 September 1955)
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.
Reference (1957)
This site is noted in the ‘List of monuments discovered during the survey of marginal land (1951-5)’ (RCAHMS 1957, xiv-xviii).
Information from RCAHMS (GFG), 24 October 2012.
Measured Survey (25 February 1991)
RCAHMS surveyed the fort and settlement at White Hill on 25 February 1991 with plane-table and self-reducing alidade at a scale of 1:500. The plan was redrawn in ink and published at a scale of 1:1000 (RCAHMS 1997, Fig. 178).
Field Visit (25 February 1991)
NT 0730 0043 NT01SE 6
This fort, overlain by a settlement and an enclosure of relatively recent date, is situated at the N end of a broad terrace to the E of the River Annan and S of the Stotfield Gill. It is roughly oval on plan, measuring 79m from N to S by 63m within twin ramparts and a medial ditch; the ramparts have been reduced to stony banks, the inner 3m thick by 0.4m high and the outer 2.5m thick and 0.3m high, and the ditch is up to 5m broad. On the NW, ploughing has levelled most of the ditch and outer rampart, and the inner rampart has been severely robbed, but outer and inner facing-stones of both ramparts are visible on the NE, SE and S. The single entrance (3m wide) which is on the ESE, has hairpin terminals around the ends of the ditch and is lined with substantial facing-stones.
The settlement is set roughly concentrically within the fort and measures about 51m from N to S by 40m within a heavily-robbed stony bank up to 6m in thickness by 0.6m in height; the crown of the bank on the E is masked by a large spread of field clearance. The entrance, on the ESE, is linked to the earlier fort entrance by a hollowed track. Within the interior of the settlement there are the remains of at least four probable round-house stances, which are separated from the entrance by a scooped yard. Three of the stances have seen recent use as the sites of cattle feeder-bins and only one, that immediately S of the centre of the interior, is measurable (about 10m in diameter).
A roughly rectangular enclosure has been set between the settlement bank and the fort rampart on the SE, utilising the line of the rampart for its SE side but otherwise defined by a low, grass-grown rickle of stone. It measures up to 16m from NE to SW by 6.5m internally and there is an entrance at the NE end. This enclosure may be associated with a length of bank that links the settlement bank with the inner edge of the rampart of the fort immediately to the SW. It may also be associated with a small pen built against the inner face of the rampart on the SW; it is defined by an arc of stony bank and measures about 7.5m from NW to SE by 3.2m internally.
Visited by RCAHMS (JRS, SMF), 25 February 1991.
Listed as fort and settlement.
RCAHMS 1997.
Note (23 July 2015 - 19 October 2016)
What is probably a fort with a later settlement enclosure inserted into its interior is situated on the crest of White Hill, a low ridge that rises up in the bottom of the valley from the E bank of the River Annan S of Corehead. The defences of the fort comprise two ramparts with a medial ditch, which enclose an oval area measuring 79m from N to S by 63m transversely (0.39ha). The ramparts are largely reduced to stony banks up to 3m in thickness by 0.4m in height, and though the outer has been removed by cultivation around the NW quarter, a short run of outer facing-stones protrude from its foot on the SSW, while a few inner facing-stones of the inner rampart can be seen on the E and NE; the medial ditch is about 5m in breadth. At the entrance, which is on the ESE, the ramparts return and unite around the terminals of the ditch and several large stones line the passage; wear has created a shallow hollow leading to the entrance into the later settlement, which is oval on plan and measures 51m from N to S by 40m transversely within a heavily robbed wall spread up to 6m in thickness by 0.6m in height; the southern part of its interior contains a scooped yard, but elsewhere there are at least four house-platforms, the best defined of which is some 10m in diameter. Between the wall of the settlement and the inner rampart, immediately S of the trackway leading from the entrance, a small rectilinear enclosure has been formed against the inner rampart, while banks traversing this space a little further round to the W presumably also relate to later periods of use. Most recently large quantities of field-gathered stones have been dumped on the E side of the settlement's interior.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 19 October 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC3212
