Culhorn

NX05NE 1 0784 5936.

The survey (of Marginal Lands) produced one additional probable motte at Culhorn, Inch at NX 078 594.

R W Feachem 1956

At NX 0784 5936, covered by young trees and undergrowth is a turf-covered mound 19.0m in diameter with an oval shaped flattish top 7.3m north-south by 2.7m east-west. The base of the mound is surrounded by a berm c4.0m wide and a ditch c4.0m wide. The mound has a maximum height of 2.0m above the berm which is c 1.1m above the bottom of the ditch. The ditch now forms part of the drainage system through the area with modern ditches running into it on the NE and south sides, having been cleared out during replanting operations. Over the WNW side of the ditch is a passageway which may represent a causeway 5.0m wide. It is possible that this mound is a cairn but is more probably the motte referred to by Feachem. (Visible on RAF APs 58/2129 F22 0090-1)

Surveyed at 1/2500.

Visited by OS (WDJ) 13 February 1963

'Culhorn House is surrounded by wood and ornamental pleasure grounds etc...' (suggesting that this mound is probably the result of landscape gardening. Marshal Stait, who resided here in the early 18th century, was noted for landscaping and agricultural improvements (NSA 1845)).

Name Book 1848

Situated in the trees 710m NW of Culhorn Mains, there is a mound (17.6m in diameter and 1.4m high) which stands within a circular ditched enclosure 27m in diameter; the ditch is 4.4m broad and 1m deep.

Although it has previously been recorded as a probable motte, it is more likely to be a garden feature of the early 18th century and part of the landscaping improvements carried out by Marshal Stair in the vicinity of Culhorn House (NX 0790 5910).

NSA 1845; Name Book 1848; OS 6-inch map, Wigtownshire, 1st ed. (1849), sheet 16; Feachem 1955; RCAHMS 1985, visited October 1984.