Description

The monument is a hillfort of the Iron Age. It comprises two enclosures, one lying within the other. The inner enclosure occupies the highest point of the plateau. It measures 105m (E-W) x 90m transversely within a collapsed stone rampart mostly showing as a scarp up to 1.6m high. The rampart has been severely mutilated around the N side where there may have been an entrance, and a roadway has been cut through the E side. A ruined wall of later date follows the top of the rampart around the W half of the fort.

The outer work, of similar construction, follows the natural crest of the plateau and measures some 340m (E-W) x 280m transversely. It utilises steep natural scarps around the N and W but around the S a strong rampart with an outer scarp up to 1.5m high survives. On all but the W side the rampart scarps are topped with a modern dry stone dyke. The interior has been heavily cultivated, but remains of structures will survive below the level of the modern ploughsoil.

An area measuring a maximum of 420m (E-W) x 370m transversely to include the whole fort and an area to the S and SW in which earlier settlement traces may survive is proposed for scheduling. The area defined by the radio station perimeter and the access road to it are not included. The above ground structure of existing dry stone walls is also excluded.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a well preserved hill fort of the Iron Age. It is of particular importance because of its large size (over 6 hectares) and its complex history of construction and use, indicated by the two, widely spaced, lines of defence. It is a major monument of the period in SW Scotland and is of national importance to the theme of Iron Age settlement and defence.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NS 33 SE 6.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland