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Duniewick
Dun (Prehistoric)
Site Name Duniewick
Classification Dun (Prehistoric)
Canmore ID 61960
Site Number NX18NW 12
NGR NX 11615 85151
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/61960
- Council South Ayrshire
- Parish Colmonell
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Kyle And Carrick
- Former County Ayrshire
NX18NW 12 1160 8515.
(NX 1160 8515) Duniewick (NAT) Camp (NR)
OS 6" map (1957)
A fort occupies the summit of Duniewick, a steep-sided isolated crag at the foot of Knockdolian. It consists of an earthen rampart, up to 1.5m high, which runs along the edge of the summit and encloses an area 24m E-W by 22 m transversely. At the foot of the crag on the N and W is a rock-cut ditch. There are breaks in the rampart in the N and NE but these are secondary, the entrance being on the W where a causeway crosses the ditch and a rocky path leads to the summit. The interior is featureless.
Visited by OS (JD) 24 July 1956
The total absence of stone in the rampart and the basal ditch do not support Feachem's (1963) suggestion that this is a dun.
Resurveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (JP) 22 December 1970
No change from previous field reports. The rough-pastured interior of the fort is covered with mole casts which produced several fragments of bone, some burnt, and three small sherds of crude undiagnostic pottery. A flint pebble scraper was also found in a cast.
Visited by OS (JRL) 24 March 1977
Field Visit (1 September 1954)
This site was included within the RCAHMS Marginal Land Survey (1950-1962), an unpublished rescue project.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 (June 1981)
Duniewick NX 116 851 NX18NW 12
A small fort, measuring 30m by 25m within an earthen rampart up to 5.6m in thickness and 0.9m in height, occupies the summit of the craggy knoll known as Duniewick; additional defence is provided on the W by a ditch at the base of the knoll. The entrance is probably on the W.
RCAHMS 1981, visited June 1981
(Smith 1895, 216; Feachem 1977, 179)
Note (20 December 2013 - 18 May 2016)
This small fort is situated on a rocky and precipitous hillock at the foot of the steep NE flank of Knockdolian. Roughly D-shaped on plan, the rampart roughly follows the margin of the summit of the hillock and encloses an area measuring about 30m from E to W along the chord on the S by 25m transversely (0.06ha). Now reduced to a bank 5.6m in thickness by 0.9m high externally, additional protection has been provided on the N and W by a ditch cut into the foot of the crags. In 1977, John Linge of the OS found several fragments of burnt bone, three small sherds of rough pottery and a flint scraper in mole casts.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 18 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC0209
