dumfries-1920/04-078

Transcription

APPLEGARTH.] INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. [APPLEGARTH.

which was no doubt in former days washed at its
base on the west by the Annan, though that
river now flows through meadow land more than
100 yards away. It is situated to the south
of the parish church and within the grounds
of the manse, the kitchen garden of which lies
on its summit. From the base of the bank on
the west the mound rises to a height of 29 feet
with a steep scarp, the elevation diminishing
as it passes round by the south to the east
side to 14 feet, while to the north the height
of the summit above a lawn formed on the
top of the bank is only some 6 feet. In the
latter direction the levels have probably been
interfered with, and there is now no trace of
the trench which, no doubt, existed here, nor
is it possible to say whether a base-court
existed on this higher level. Along the east
side and round to south, some 6 feet below
the summit and 8 feet above the base, is a
6-foot terrace gradually descending to the
base level on the north face. This terrace
on the east and south appears to be an
original feature, but beneath it the mound is
faced with a modern retaining wall, and it is
possible that the profile has been altered in
comparatively recent times. The summit of
the mote is circular, measuring in diameter
105 feet from north to south by 116 feet from
east to west.
xlii. -- S.E. -- 2 August 1912.

14. Fort, Millbank. - This fort, which ap-
pears to be a pure earthwork, is situated on
a gentle undulation about 1/4 mile west-south-
west of Millbank Farm, some 2 miles to the
north of Lockerbie, and is enclosed and
planted with trees. In plan it is circular, with
a diameter of some 208 feet, surrounded by
a single trench, 35 feet in width and with a
depth, where best preserved, of 8 feet below
the crests of the scarp and counterscarp.
Crowning the scarp is a parapet mound some
18 feet in thickness at base and 3 to 4 feet in
height on the interior, while a similar mound
surmounts the counterscarp. Near the centre
of the north side there is an entrance by a
gangway 5 feet wide, crossing the trench at an
elevation of 4 feet above the bottom level and
carried through the parapet mound by a gap of
equal width; there appears to have been a
second entrance from the west, passing inwards

at the level of the ground outside into a hollow
at the lowest point of the interior. The inner
circle of the enceinte has been preserved com-
plete, but, except towards the north, the
trench has passed into land now under cultiva-
tion and has suffered in consequence. The
site, though at an elevation of only 250 feet,
commands a fine prospect up Annandale.
xliii. -- S.W. -- 6 August 1912.

15. Fort, Cumstone Burn. - Some 200 yards
west by north of Cumstone farmhouse, on the
top of the steep right bank of the Cumstone
Burn and some 25 feet above the level of the
stream, is an oval enclosure with its longest
axis north by west and south by east and
measuring interiorly 179 feet by 157 feet. It
is surrounded by a rampart of earth and stone
some 22 feet broad at base, rising from 3 to
5 feet above the level of the interior, with a
concentric trench to the outside carried to the
face of the bank of the burn at either end,
22 feet wide and 5 feet below the crest of the
ramparts. The situation is at the base of the
Bow Hill, and has no great outlook.
xliii. -- N.E. -- 6 August 1912.

16. Fort, Fir Tree Hill. - This fort is situated
on a plateau on the western slope of Fir Tree
Hill, at an elevation of 740 feet or thereby
above sea-level. It is an oblong enclosure
lying with its longest axis north-north-west and
south-south-east, measuring interiorly 154 feet
by 97 feet, surrounded by a rampart of earth
and stone rising some 4 feet above the interior
level, with a trench beyond, 26 feet broad and
3 to 4 feet deep below the crest of the scarp, and
with a mound on the counterscarp which, on
the north-east or higher side, rises 7 feet above
the bottom of the trench. The entrance, 5 feet
in width, has been from the east, where it
passes through the inner mound. It presents
a peculiar arrangement. The mound which
crowns the counterscarp as it comes round
from the north is returned across the trench
straight towards the opening through the inner
rampart, and stops a few feet distant from
it, leaving a passage into the trench to the
north as well as to the interior. The space left
between the return of the mound, where it
leaves its regular curve, and the end of the outer

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