Monday, January 30, 2012

Campbelltown Mote, Nr Twynholm

Arden Campbelltown Mote
Nr Twynholm
Dumfries and Galloway
Scotland

This small hill fort, about half a mile West of Twynholm, took me two visits to find, due to bad map reading and a general misunderstanding of the area. Once found though, I wasn't disapointed. What can be seen in the field by the road, is a small double ditched fort, measuring some 180 by 135 feet, with a summit of 95 by 55 feet. The views shown below, show the North side of the motte, quarried away and quite badly damaged.

Above. The North face of the motte, showing the quarry damage.

Looking at the surrounding fields, it's quite obvious why this site was chosen. It is built into an isolated hillock, with a height of around 22 feet. The summit has been fortified or strengthened with a stone wall or revetment, and there are at least two ditches providing further defence, though these have been quite badly eroded.


The motte is best viewed from the road side, where there is enough room to park your car. The gate was secured, so I'm not sure if access to the field is granted for viewing from other angles. To the North of the motte, and about a mile away, but visible from here, The Doon Hill can be seen.

1 comment:

Craig Davies said...

I am Craig Davies, I live just outside Vancouver in Canada. Many of my lunch hours are spent looking through your posts - what great stuff! The work you do is extensive, the writing is very interesting and your photos are great! I am a lover of photography and history too. I want to get to Great Britain to photograph the areas where my family is from. If you have a moment you can see some of my photography [also an amateur] at www.thethingsisee.ca

Thank you for keeping my lunch hours interesting and please keep up the fine blogging.
Cheers,
Craig Davies