Catharine's Hill

NY 1053 9926 NY19NW 1

This much-denuded settlement is situated in improved ground on a steep-sided knoll high above the left bank of the River Annan. Roughly D-shaped on plan, it measures about 60m from N to S along the chord by 40.5m transversely within a grass-grown bank up to 9.5m thick and 0.5m high. Traces of a shallow ditch (up to 7m broad) are visible on the S, and the entrance (6.9m wide) is on the E.

An internal bank (aligned approximately E to W), which cuts off the northern section of the enclosure, is later in date than the settlement bank, but may still be of some antiquity. A field dyke runs along the W side of the settlement.

No internal features were visible on the ground, although a slight rise to the W of the centre may indicate the site of a round-house. Cropmarks on air photographs reveal at least three, and possibly up to six, ring-groove houses within the interior, as well as the continuation of the ditch around the NE and SE arcs of the perimeter.

Visited by RCAHMS (SMF, JRS) 20 March 1990.

Listed as defended settlement.

RCAHMS 1997.

An aerial transcription was produced from oblique aerial photographs. Information from Historic Environment Scotland (BM) 31 March 2017.

An interpretative transcription, or mapping, of information on oblique aerial photographs was produced on 30 July 2012.

Enclosing the summit of a steep-sided hillock on the E bank of the River Annan, this fortified settlement is D-shaped on plan, backing onto a steep escarpment on the W, though whether originally this shape by design or an accident of erosion along the escarpment is unclear. It has evidently been heavily ploughed, but a rampart spread up o 9.5m in thickness by 0.5m in height can be traced in a broad arc around the N, E and S to enclose an area measuring about 60m from N to S along the lip of the escarpment, by up to 40m transversely (0.24ha). Traces of an external ditch up to 7m broad can be seen on the S, and parchmarks on aerial photographs reveal this accompanying the rampart elsewhere on its circuit. A gap about 7m broad marks the position of the entrance on the E. The parchmarks also reveal the stances of at least six timber round-houses within the interior, in some cases including details of the foundation trenches of their walls, while ground survey has shown that the interior has been subdivided by a bank that crosses from E to W to form an enclosure in its northern end; while clearly later than the rampart, the date of this enclosure is unknown.

Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 23 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC0974

Historic environment Scotland, Archaeological Survey Team, undertook a gradiometer survey of 19.44ha at Catharine’s Hill, Dumfries and Galloway, between 22nd September and 1st October 2021. The survey forms part of the ‘On the Edge of Empire’ project, and was undertaken to (a) understand changing settlement trends between 400BC and AD400, (b) identify if the presence of the Roman military changed settlement trajectory, (c) establish if geophysics can help identify the appearance of new sites or the increase/decrease in existing ones, and (d) establish the pattern of Roman infrastructure in the area and how this relates to native sites.

Fieldwork was undertaken by Dr Nick Hannon, Dr Łukasz Banaszek, Georgina Brown, Dr Dave Cowley and Alison McCaig, and processing and data interpretation by Dr Nick Hannon and Hazel Blake.

The gradiometer survey was conducted using a hand-propelled Sensys MXPDA system mounted on a Sensys F-type non-magnetic cart, with standard profile wheels. This system utilised five Sensys FGM650/3 sensors operating at 100hz, mounted at a 0.5m sensor separation with bases positioned 0.05m from the surface and walked as a series of parallel traverses in a zig-zag pattern. Traverses were aligned E-W and positioned 2.5m apart. The geophysical survey produced fair quality results which give a good level of confidence that the methodology and survey strategy was appropriate to assess the archaeological potential of the survey area.

The survey has identified seven features on and around the area defined as Catharine’s Hill settlement. This includes features interpreted as roundhouses and associated pits, some of which correspond with aerial photographic interpretations [1]. In addition, the main rampart of the settlement is visible in the gradiometer data, although this is difficult to identify [1] and there is a possible enclosure immediately outside the settlement ditch [2].

The survey suggests a site previously identified as a possible scooped settlement [4], is better interpreted as a backfilled quarry. Within the rest of the survey area two possible enclosures [3], a possible field system [5], possible trackway [6] and possible roundhouse [7] were identified.

Despite the lack of modern infrastructure and disturbance there are relatively few archaeological features present in the gradiometer data.

The survey archive includes a survey report [9] and spatial data and layers created during data processing and interpretation. These include the unprocessed survey data [10], processed survey data, survey area extents which contain the survey metadata, along with point, line and polygon interpretations [11].

Visited by HES Archaeological Survey (N. Hannon and L. Banaszek, G. Brown, D. Cowley and A. McCaig), between 22nd September and 1st October 2021.

[1] https://canmore.org.uk/site/66898

[2] https://canmore.org.uk/site/371335

[3] https://canmore.org.uk/site/371337

[4] https://canmore.org.uk/site/66914

[5] https://canmore.org.uk/site/371339

[6] https://canmore.org.uk/site/371336

[7] http://canmore.org.uk/site/371338

[8] https://canmore.org.uk/site/371345

[9] https://canmore.org.uk/collection/2479285

[10] http://canmore.org.uk/collection/2708760

[11] http://canmore.org.uk/collection/2708764

An interpretative transcription, or mapping, of information on oblique aerial photographs was produced on 29 April 2022.

Information from HES Archaeological Survey (K. Millican) 29 April 2022.