Description

The monument comprises the earthwork remains of a later prehistoric settlement. It survives as stony bank, ditch and counterscarp bank enclosing a sub-circular area. The monument is located in SW Annandale at approximately 70 m above sea level on the W side of the river Annan, which feeds the upper Solway Firth. It lies in mature, deciduous woodland with part of its southernmost outer ditch and bank lying in cultivated land (currently grass).

This type of enclosed settlement was built during the later first millennium BC/early first millennium AD. Although there is a break in the W side of the outer bank, there appears only to be one original entrance, in the east. No internal structures are visible. Although suggested to be associated with the 15th-century home of the Cokpule family, there is no field evidence to confirm such a later occupation.

The area to be scheduled is circular on plan, to include the remains described and an area around them within which related material may be expected to be found, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The scheduling specifically excludes the above-ground components of all modern boundary features, including fences, gates and associated works, to allow for their maintenance.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

Cultural significance

The monument's archaeological significance can be expressed as follows:

Intrinsic characteristics

This monument has well-preserved field characteristics and therefore has the potential to reveal much about the nature and history of its construction and occupation, including any internal features that once existed.

Contextual characteristics

This monument is a well-preserved example from a class of later prehistoric, Iron-age enclosed settlement. These enclosed settlements are found widely throughout eastern Dumfries and Galloway, where they tend to occur in clustered intervals along the sides of valleys or on higher ground dominating the immediate countryside. As a group, these monuments are often particularly well preserved in this area, which means that they offer the potential for a deeper understanding of the evolution of later prehistoric settlement in this area, including how its inhabitants inter-related with the invading Romans. This monument is in an unusually low-lying position and can help us to understand the full diversity of settlement pattern, occupation and rural economy.

Associative characteristics

While it has been suggested that the site is to be associated with Cokpule 'castle' from which the family of Murray of Cokpule took its designation, there is no proof of this.

National Importance

The monument is of national importance because it has an inherent potential to make a significant addition to the understanding of the past, in particular to provide information on lowland enclosed settlements during the Iron Age. It is a well-preserved example of its class and its loss would impede our ability to understand the construction and use of this type of Iron-age settlement in its local and national context, and what this means for our appreciation of the development of later prehistoric society in Scotland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS record the monument as NY17SW 4.

References:

Lennox J 1908, ?The castellated remains of Dumfriesshire?, TRANS DUMFRIESSHIRE GALLOWAY NATUR HIST ANTIQ SOC 19, 91-6.

RCAHMS 1920, SEVENTH REPORT WITH INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS AND CONSTRUCTIONS IN THE COUNTY OF DUMFRIES, Edinburgh: HMSO.

RCAHMS 1997, EASTERN DUMFRIESSHIRE: AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL LANDSCAPE. Edinburgh: HMSO.

Reid R C 1955, ?The site at Cokpule?, TRANS DUMFRIESSHIRE GALLOWAY NATUR HIST ANTIQ SOC 3 Ser, 32, 190-92.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland