Description

The monument consists of a hillfort of Iron Age date. The fort

displays at least two phases of construction.

The fort, usually known as Glenroan Mote, although formerly

Glengappock, is set on a low hill. The earliest feature is an oval enclosure within a much-reduced rampart. This measures 32m by 20m internally. Overlying this is a later defensive arrangement, a stone wall (now ruined) surrounding an oval area 50m by 40m. Except for the

S side, where there is a very steep slope, this wall has been further defended by two ditches and ramparts. The entrance to the later work

is on the SW, and the line of the inner ditch appears to have been

left incomplete on the NE side. Specimens of vitrified material are

in the Dumfries Museum from this monument, but it is not clear from which phase of construction they derive.

The area to be scheduled is circular, 115m in diameter, to include

the whole hilltop, including the two phases of fortified enclosure

and all associated ramparts, walls and ditches, as marked in red on

the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a modest-sized fort which shows two phases of construction; a simple early enclosure replaced by a later bivallate defence with a stone-walled central enclosure. Although there is no dating evidence for either phase, vitrified material recovered from the site suggests that at least one phase involved timber-laced or framed construction. The site has the potential, through excavation and analysis, to provide important information about the development of defensive architecture and about domestic economy in the later prehistoric period.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

The monument is recorded in RCAHMS as NX 77 SE 9.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland