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Castle Hill
Earthwork (Period Unassigned), Arrowhead (Flint)(Period Unassigned)
Site Name Castle Hill
Classification Earthwork (Period Unassigned), Arrowhead (Flint)(Period Unassigned)
Canmore ID 65859
Site Number NX98SE 5
NGR NX 9742 8427
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/65859
- Council Dumfries And Galloway
- Parish Kirkmahoe
- Former Region Dumfries And Galloway
- Former District Nithsdale
- Former County Dumfries-shire
NX98SE 5 9742 8427.
(NX 9742 8427) Fort (NR)
OS 6" map (1948)
This oval fort, some 300 feet by 220 feet, occupies the summit of a rounded eminence immediately NW of Castlehill House.
The remains are visible only on the south and west. A narrow segment on the south has been cut off by a dyke and lies within a wood, and here the defences consist of a slight inner rampart crowning a scarp some 6 to 7 feet in height, at its base a trench some 20 feet broad and widening as it passes westward. In places the trench has been filled up to a considerable extent, and looks like a terrace, but it becomes clearly defined to the westward, with a slight mound forming the counterscarp. It does not appear to have been continued along the steep north face. The entrance, which is from the SW, is distinct, opening into a slight depression.
RCAHMS 1920
The British camp of Duncol or Castle Hill has two entrances, one on the west, the other on the east, the latter being not so clear. A flint arrowhead was found here.
T Johnston 1825-7; M R Dobie 1959
Miscellaneous earthwork.
R W Feachem 1956
The remains of this earthwork are generally as described by RCAHMS. It is probable that the inner rampart was continued round the North and East sides, although no trace of it remains.
Revised at 25"
Visited by OS (WDJ) 22 June 1964
Note (20 December 2013 - 15 November 2016)
This oval fort occupies a steep-sided hillock and measures internally about 90m from N to S by 65m transversely (0.5ha). The defences are best preserved around the S and W, where the inner rampart is reduced to little more than a scarp standing about 2m high above an external ditch 6m broad, but a counterscarp bank is also visible on the W. Elsewhere, on the N and E, the line of the rampart cannot be distinguished from what now appears to be a natural scarp forming the flank of the hillock, but there is no reason to suppose that the defences were not carried around the whole circuit. The entrance is on the SW, opening into a shallow hollow in the surface of the otherwise featureless interior.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 15 November 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC0339
