Accessibility

Font Size

100% 150% 200%

Background Colour

Default Contrast
Close Reset

Trostrie Motte

Motte (Medieval)

Site Name Trostrie Motte

Classification Motte (Medieval)

Canmore ID 64016

Site Number NX65NE 5

NGR NX 6568 5743

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/64016

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
Canmore Disclaimer. © Copyright and database right 2024.

Toggle Aerial | View on large map

Digital Images

Administrative Areas

  • Council Dumfries And Galloway
  • Parish Twynholm
  • Former Region Dumfries And Galloway
  • Former District Stewartry
  • Former County Kirkcudbrightshire

Archaeology Notes

NX65NE 5 6568 5743.

(NX 6568 5743) Trostrie Mote (NR)

OS 6"map, (1957)

A natural hillock has been utilised to form a motte. It is oblong in shape, 202' NNE-SSW by c.120' transversely. There is a well-defined ditch around the base, except at the SSW end, where it has probably been filled in. On the W side it is 18' wide by 4' deep and 26'-28' wide by 7' deep on the other two sides. The hillock, whose sides slope at an angle of 40, rises 40' above the bottom of the ditch on the W side. Except for a short distance at the S end, the summit is heavily overgrown, making measurements impossible. As far as observable, it is hollowed to a maximum depth of 6' and has been divided into two main divisions by a bank or wall c.66' from the SSW end, while at 36' from the same end, a slight ridge projecting from either side may indicate a further subdivision.

At the base, above the counterscarp of the ditch round the NNE end and the W side there runs a mound, which, judging from some large stones visible round the crest, was probably surmounted by a wall. From the N angle of this outer mound, a broad bank stretches towards the low-lying marshy ground beyond, along the top of what seems to be an artificial scarp.

RCAHMS 1914, visited 1911; F R Coles 1893

Generally as described, an excellent example of a motte measuring 64.0m NE to SW by 44.0m transversely with a summit area 34.0m by 18.0m.

Name Trostrie Mote confirmed.

Resurveyed at 1/2500.

Visited by OS (RD) 21 February 1972

Activities

Field Visit (30 April 1990)

Standing immediately N of the farm-buildings of Trostrie Farm, this elliptical motte, like the so-called Culcraigie Motte to its N, is probably a natural knoll which in this case has been sculpted into shape. It measures 39m from N to S by 17.6m transversely and has a bank, spread to 4m in thickness and 1m in height which runs across its middle from E to W, 15.5m from the N end, dividing the top of the motte into two unequal parts. The interior of the motte, which is overgrown with brambles and gorse, is sunken giving the impression of embanked ramparts around the perimeter. An entrance, 2m wide, is evident at the S end as a gap in the perimeter bank, but the exterior is very steep. The motte is surrounded by a ditch with a counterscarp bank visible around the N, E and W sides, but it has been filled in on the S side. The ditch measures 7.5m in width by 1.25m in depth with the mound standing 12m high from the surface of the infilled ditch on the S side. A terraced bank runs off from the NW arc of the ditch in a northerly direction, but this need not be related to the occupation of the motte.

Visited by RCAHMS (PJD) 30 April 1990.

References

MyCanmore Image Contributions


Contribute an Image

MyCanmore Text Contributions