stirling-1963-vol-1/05_209

Transcription

No. 183 -- MOTTES -- No. 184
be an original feature, and was no doubt made at a
comparatively recent date when the top of the motte was
periodically brought under cultivation. ¹

701781 -- NS 77 NW ("Mote") -- 18 May 1953

183. Motte and Bailey, "Maiden Castle", Garmore.
This earthwork is situated at a height of 500 ft. O.D. on
the southern slopes of the Campsie Fells, 370 yds. W. of
Garmore farmhouse. It lies on the right bank of a burn
which runs down from a moss between Cort-ma Law
and Lairs; the water falls 1150 ft. in a distance of three-
quarters of a mile, and the occasional violence of its
passage has caused considerable erosion of the remains
(Fig. 64). In addition, the bailey has been damaged
by water from a number of springs which irrigate the
hillside, by the harnessing of one spring to a piped
water supply, and by the encroachment of cultivation.
The motte (A on the plan) originally consisted of a

[Plan Inserted]
Fig. 64. Motte, Garmore (No. 183)

circular mound surrounded by a ditch 12 ft. wide, but
the burn has removed about one-third of both mound
and ditch. On the S. side the mound rises to a height
of 18 ft. above the present bottom of the ditch. The
flat top measures 57 ft. in diameter, and there is a drop
of 43 ft. from it to the stream-bed. The motte stands
in the S. part of the bailey, enough of which survives
to suggest that it was originally oval, measuring approxi-
mately 170 ft. by 140 ft. within what is now a grass-
covered, stony bank (B) some 12 ft. thick and 2 ft. high.
Much of the S. and W. arcs of this bank remain, but
the E. part has been washed away by the burn, while the
N. arc has been mutilated by the plough.
The space within the bailey N. of the motte is
occupied by mounds arranged as shown on the plan. The
inner, a substantial stony bank up to 8 ft. in height, starts
outside the WNW. arc of the motte-ditch, and, after
curving for a short distance in conformity with the line
of the ditch, runs straight NE. for 50 ft. After a gap 8 ft.
wide it continues for 32 ft. SE. to come to a broken end
on the lip of the gorge of the burn. The outer bank,
generally similar in appearance to the inner, follows a
similar course.
Oval baileys containing curved mounds as well as
mottes have been recorded in North Devon and Brecon. ²

643784 -- NS 67 NW -- 16 July 1953

184. Motte, Woodend. This motte (Fig. 65) is situated
at a height of 300 ft. O.D. on the N. slopes of the valley
of the Endrick Water, its position being just S. of the

[Plan Inserted]
Fig. 65. Motte, Woodend (No. 184)

public road at a distance of 300 yds. W. of Woodend
farmhouse. It consists of a natural mound, 10 ft. in
maximum height, the top of which has been levelled to
form a roughly an oval platform measuring 130 ft. from E.
to W. by 110 ft. transversely. The SE. half of the base
of the mound is bordered by natural gullies which unite
on the SE. and are linked by a channel with Neil's Burn.
In order to form a continuous defence, the heads of the
gullies have been joined by an artificial ditch dug round

1 Stat. Acct., xviii (1796), 292.
2 Allcroft, A. H., Earthwork of England (1908), figs. 121 and
126.

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valrsl- Moderator, Brenda Pollock

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