Steinhead Mote
Promontory Fort (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Steinhead Mote
Classification Promontory Fort (Period Unassigned)
Canmore ID 63095
Site Number NX43NE 5
NGR NX 4853 3718
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/63095
- Council Dumfries And Galloway
- Parish Whithorn
- Former Region Dumfries And Galloway
- Former District Wigtown
- Former County Wigtownshire
NX43NE 5 4853 3718
(NX 4853 3718) Steinhead Mote (NR)
OS 6" map (1957)
Promontory Fort, Steinhead. Part of this fort, which is comparable with that at Dinnans (NX44SE 3) has been eroded away. It occupies a promontory 70' - 80' above the sea, the landward side is defended by two concentric earth and stone ramparts, separated by a 36' wide level area, and an outer ditch, which was 23' wide, but is much ploughed out.
In 1955, the RCAHMS suggested that two boulders in the scarp of the outer rampart where it comes round the N side of the geo, may indicate that the ramparts had been faced with stone, externally at least. The outer rampart, much reduced , is nowhere over 6' high and generally much less. At the S end of the level area between the ramparts, there is a narrow bank interposed between them for a short way. The entrance was near the N end of the defences, and led obliquely through the two ramparts, the gap in the ditch at the S end has been caused by former cultivation.
In 1911, the RCAHMS describe signs of a stone structure in the interior, but no trace of this was found in 1955. Also in 1911, they describe a series of trenches dug from near the centre of the cliff edge, possibly exploratory; they were dismissed as plough-rigs in 1955, cultivation having also destroyed the N part of the medial rampart and mutilating the others.
RCAHMS 1912, visited 1911; TS., visited 1955
Steinhead Mote is as described in 1955.
Resurveyed at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (IA) 23 January 1973.
Field Visit (10 October 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This site was included within the RCAHMS Marginal Land Survey (1950-1962), an unpublished rescue project.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.
Note (20 December 2013 - 23 May 2016)
This fort is situated on steep and rocky promontory on the E coast of the Machars, but currently it is entirely blanketed in gorse. The defences, which block access from the W, comprise two elements: an outer rampart up to 1.8m high with an external ditch 7m in breadth, which are drawn in an arc on the landward side of the gully forming the present neck of the promontory; and two inner banks set across the neck to its rear. The outer rampart, which may have been faced externally in stone, has been heavily ploughed down at its S end, but a gap towards the N margin of the promontory, roughly midway along its arc, may mark the position of an original entrance, and there is also a corresponding gap at this point in the innermost. The two inner ramparts have also been ploughed down and traces of cultivation rigs have been noted in the interior. If the three lines represent a single scheme of enclosure, the interior is relatively small, measuring about 36m from N to S by 30m transversely, an area of barely 0.01ha, but the character of the outer, with its broad external ditch, suggests that it may represent an independent period of construction. Its position suggests that the N margin of the promontory has dramatically receded since, and in its original form it may have cut off an area of as much as 0.19ha.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 23 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC0225
