<< Our Photo Pages >> Trusty's Hill - Hillfort in Scotland in Dumfries and Galloway
Submitted by PaulH on Saturday, 28 January 2017 Page Views: 28441
Iron Age and Later PrehistorySite Name: Trusty's HillCountry: Scotland County: Dumfries and Galloway Type: Hillfort
Nearest Town: Gatehouse of Fleet Nearest Village: Anwoth
Map Ref: NX58895601 Landranger Map Number: 83
Latitude: 54.878875N Longitude: 4.200953W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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markj99 visited on 7th Mar 2022 - their rating: Cond: 2 Amb: 4 Access: 3 I accessed Trusty's Hill from Rutherford's Monument but it is normally approched via Vinnie Hill on the outskirts of Gatehouse of Fleet. I found the remains of the hillfort difficult to interpret but the elevated site has panoramic views all round.
drolaf coin have visited here
This site is notable as one of the few sites in Southern Scotland with Pictish symbol carvings. The location is really beautiful, with great views out to the Solway Firth. It is near to the spectacular sites of Cairnholy chambered cairns and the stone circles of Cambret Moor.
Perhaps not the most spectacular set of remains when you finally find them, but well worth the effort because of the surroundings.
This site is not easy to find. From looking at the map the most obvious approach is from the east, from Gatehouse of Fleet. However the problem when approaching from here is finding which hill of a number in the area is actually the one with the fort on it ! There are many hills to choose from, no obvious waymarked path (someone is clearly taking waymark posts down and hiding them), lots of bracken, and sometimes bulls ! The actual field boundaries, walls and fences don't coincide with those shown on 1:25000 scale maps.
On a second attempt I found it was best to approach from the West. Park in Anworth, near the Old Kirk. Follow the path past the southern boundary of the churchyard of the Old Kirk, and up the hillside through a conifer woodland. When you emerge above the conifers, head in the direction of the Rutherford Obelisk uphill and try to find the triangulation point. Trusty's hill is due east from the trig. point (down hill, cross the valley and up the other side), and has a flattish, N-S elongated top.
The carvings are beside the southern gate of the fort, and are protected by a metal grille, which is how you'll spot them. They consist of a double disk and Z-rod, a monster with a spiral tail, and a bizarre "teletubby" face with antennae.
The fort itself has a nice set of southern ramparts, a hut foundation set into the E side of the south gate, and a spectacular rock-cut ditch on the E side of the north gate. There are also apparently signs of vitrification of the fort, but having never seen a vitrified fort before I was unable to identify them.
For more information on the hillfort see Canmore ID 63641 and for the Pictish Symbol Rock Carvings at NX 5889 5601 see Canmore ID 83748.
Note: The fiery demise of a hillfort - new evidence for vitrified forts and warfare in early medieval Scotland
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