Boreland of Anworth Motte, Gatehouse of Fleet

Boreland Of Anwoth motte

Green Tower Motte

Gatehouse Of Fleet

Dumfries and Galloway

A confusing motte and bailey castle this one....mainly because it seems to be unable to decide what its name is. Some documentation refers to it as Green Tower Motte, some as Anwoth Motte, and some as Boreland of Anwoth Motte. Whatever it's name, it is a large earthwork, visible at a distance from the road side. The A75 between Newton Stewart and Kirkcudbrigh has to be one of the most scenic drives in South West Scotland, passing by numerous historical sites, and providing some beautiful views across the Irish Sea. These earthwork remains can be found less than a mile South of Gatehouse of Fleet and Cardoness Castle, and nearly seventeen miles East of Newton Stewart.

Above. The motte looking South West from the A75.

The motte consists of two distinct parts: a small twenty two by twenty metre almost circular earthwork mound, with a fifteen metre wide ditch separating it from a larger fifty two metre by twenty metre motte protruding out into the high tide areas of Skyreburn Bay. Unlike the numerous small single mound mottes in this part of Scotland, Anwoth was built with a large well defended bailey area. R.M.Smith, in his The Castles of Galloway, states that this is similar in form to motte and bailey castles found in Ulster, and therefore an anomaly to the area. It is dated to around 1160, and would most likely have belonged to David Fitz Teri, who may have received surrounding areas of land from Uchtred Mac Fergusa, Lord of Galloway. The remains of a deep ditch can still be traced on the Landward\North side of the earthworks.

The motte can be seen from the roadside quite easily. If you park up at Cardoness Castle and then walk back down to the A75, cross over, and look South East, you should be able to see it.

Check the link for the motte's connections with the McCulloh clan.