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Alais Knowe, Elbeckhill
Farmstead (Medieval) - (Post Medieval), Fort (Prehistoric)
Site Name Alais Knowe, Elbeckhill
Classification Farmstead (Medieval) - (Post Medieval), Fort (Prehistoric)
Canmore ID 66953
Site Number NY19SW 12
NGR NY 14260 93550
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/66953
- Council Dumfries And Galloway
- Parish Wamphray
- Former Region Dumfries And Galloway
- Former District Annandale And Eskdale
- Former County Dumfries-shire
NY19SW 12 14260 93550
(NY 1426 9355) Ancient Earthwork (NAT)
OS 6" map, 1957
A rampart, and trench 28 to 33' wide, remain at the N end of an enclosure some 260 - 270' in diameter. The entrance is in the S and opens into an artificial-looking hollow 30' by 9'. Foundations of three rectangular enclosures in the interior are evidently sheepfolds and probably secondary. Along the E side are remains of smaller enclosures.
RCAHMS 1920.
Listed as 'fort'.
R W Feachem 1956.
In a non-defensive position on the end of a low spur are the remains of a settlement and later farmstead. The settlement consists of a double bank with medial ditch in the N, while elsewhere natural slopes probably delimit its extent, giving an internal dimension of c. 80m N-S by c. 60m transversely. The entrance was probably in the S. The farmstead, which may be medieval in date, consists of at least three small rectangular structures - probably buildings - and larger irregular enclosures, all delimited by low turf banks.
Resurveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (D W R), 20 March 1972.
No change to previous field report.
Surveyed at 1:10,000.
Visited by OS (B S) 16 October 1978
Settlement [NR]
OS 1:10,000 map, 1982.
Scheduled as 'Elbeckhill, fort and farmstead 345m ESE of...'
Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 27 January 2010.
Alais Knowe [NAT]
Settlement [NR]
OS (GIS) MasterMap, March 2010.
Measured Survey (27 August 1990 - 28 August 1990)
RCAHMS surveyed the settlement at Alais Knowe between 27-28 August 1990 with plane-table and self-reducing alidade at a scale of 1:500. The plan was redrawn in ink and published at a scale of 1:1000 (RCAHMS 1997, Fig. 248).
Field Visit (15 May 1990)
NY 1426 9355 NY19SW 12
This fort is situated at the SSW end of a low spur and measures about 70m from N to S by 60m internally. The defences are best preserved on the N, where they comprise a rampart up to 6m thick by 1.2m high, with an external ditch 6m broad and a counterscarp bank 3m thick by 0.4m high. Elsewhere, later occupation and cultivation have virtually levelled the defences, although the line of the rampart can be followed as an external scarp on the W, and there are traces of a possible entrance on the S.
Most of the interior is occupied by a series of rectangular buildings and enclosures. The remains of at least eight buildings can be identified, all reduced to their grass-grown wall-footings and ranging in size from 16.5m by 6.8m to 10m by 5.2m overall.
Visited by RCAHMS (IMS), 15 May 1990.
Listed as fort and overlying farmstead
RCAHMS 1997.
Note (17 June 2014 - 3 August 2016)
This fort, which is situated on a hillock at the foot of a spur of higher ground to the ENE, is overlain by a post-medieval farmstead. This occupies the whole of the interior and has obscured the character of the defences in the southern half of the fort and along its E side. Nevertheless, the outline of the defences can be broadly traced, enclosing a roughly oval area measuring about 82m from NNE to SSW by 70m transversely (0.42ha). Where best preserved, on the NW, they comprise an inner rampart some 6m thick by 1.2m high, with an external ditch 6m broad and a low counterscarp bank. The ditch has been largely ploughed out to the S of a field bank that crosses the defences on the W, while northwards it extends round to NE, where it disappears at the edge of a natural escarpment. At the S end the line of the rampart seems to turn inwards on both sides to form a deep re-entrant, but while this probably marks the position of the entrance, this part of the circuit has been heavily reduced and the rampart simply peters out to either side of a broad gap.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 03 August 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC1005
