Parliament Knowe
Fort (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Parliament Knowe
Classification Fort (Period Unassigned)
Canmore ID 63516
Site Number NX46NW 9
NGR NX 4282 6610
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/63516
- Council Dumfries And Galloway
- Parish Minnigaff
- Former Region Dumfries And Galloway
- Former District Wigtown
- Former County Kirkcudbrightshire
NX46NW 9 4282 6610.
(NX 42826610) Parliament Knowe (NR)
OS 6" map (1957)
Fort (R W Feachem 1956). A scarped and defended natural hillock. The oblong or circular rocky hillock stands on the edge of a bank which declines towards the E. Except in that direction, it is steeply scarped to a height of 10ft at an angle of 38 and the highest point of the interior rises 9 or 10ft above the level of this scarp. A stony mound runs round the crest of the scarp, except across the natural bank on the E where a disorded mass of stones may indicate the previous existence of a wall. The internal diameter is about 96ft.
At the base of the scarp a shallow ditch about 13ft wide runs from the edge of the bank on the SE to the NNW where it appears to have been blocked off by a row of upright stones, one of which still remains in situ on the outer edge. To judge from the amount of stone lying about, the outer lip of the ditch has been crowned by a wall.
There is the suggestion of a road leading up the bank on the E. Morton adds that 'adjoining the fort on the NW is a plot of ground which seems to have been enclosed...and further on in the same direction among rough ground between this and the path going over the hill is an old corn kiln or kiln pot...'
RCAHMS 1914; A S Morton 1938
Although the fort appears to generally as described above, it accurate dimensions are difficult to determine since it lies in a thick fir plantation, and has been mutilated by quarrying. The additional features mentioned by Morton could not be located. It is still known as 'Parliament Knowe'; the name is attributed to the fact that the local lead-miners used it as a meeting-place.
Resurveyed at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (RD) 14 October 1966
Note (20 December 2013 - 9 August 2016)
This small fortification occupies a rocky hillock at the top of the slope dropping down E into a shallow valley. Roughly circular on plan, it measures about 28m in diameter within a stony rampart which extends round the margin of the hillock. A steep scarp drops down some 3m below this rampart everywhere except the E, and at its foot around the southern and western quarters, from the SE round to the NNW, there is a shallow ditch about 4m broad with a bank of rubble along its counterscarp. The position of the entrance is not known though it may be indicated either by a row of stones observed by RCAHMS investigators in 1911 returning around the terminal of the ditch on the NNW, or the traces a trackway they noted climbing the slope on the E (RCAHMS 1914, 182, no. 339). The interior of the fort, which rises to a low summit within the line of the rampart. has been mutilated by quarrying.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 09 August 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC0239
