Dinnance Mote
Motte (Medieval), Rig And Furrow (Medieval) - (Post Medieval)
Site Name Dinnance Mote
Classification Motte (Medieval), Rig And Furrow (Medieval) - (Post Medieval)
Canmore ID 64184
Site Number NX66SE 4
NGR NX 6742 6377
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/64184
- Council Dumfries And Galloway
- Parish Balmaghie
- Former Region Dumfries And Galloway
- Former District Stewartry
- Former County Kirkcudbrightshire
NX66SE 4 6742 6377.
(NX 6742 6377) Dinnance Mote (NR)
OS 6"map, (1958)
A motte (R W Feachem 1956) formed a natural rocky hillock, connected with a larged hillock by a narrow neck of land. The top, oval and flat, measuring c.50ft by 28ft, is surrounded by traces of a stony parapet, possibly with a stone revetment, particularly towards the NW.
On the NW face, some 12' below the summit, there are traces of a short "supported terrace" some 5' to 6' wide, which appears to merge into the steep north slope of the hillock. On the SE, some 22' below the summit, there is another terrace which passes across the neck, leading into a trench which separates the two hillocks on the west. How much, if any, of these latter features are artificial, it is hardly possible to determine without excavation.
RCAHMS 1914, visited 1911
A rather dilapidated motte, heavily overgrown with bracken and scrub, generally as described by RCAHMS, although no terracing was seen on its NW slopes. Name not confirmed.
Revised at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (WDJ) 7 August 1968
Field Visit (8 March 1990)
This motte is essentially a natural rocky knoll on the E end of a flat-topped ridge. The neck connecting the knoll to the ridge, only 15m in breadth, has been cut by a ditch, which measures 5.5m across and 1.2m in depth; the upcast has been used to provide material for a bank (now 2.5m thick and 0.35m high), which defines a bailey or flat area some 12m wide on the SW side of the knoll. The knoll rises directly to a height of 3m above the bailey and measures 15m from NE to SW by 8.2m transversely. Traces of a continuation of the upcast bank as a slight stony terrace, which merges with slope of the hillock, are visible on both the NW and SE faces.
Visited by RCAHMS (PJD) 8 March 1990.
