Rispain Camp
by Whithorn in Dumfries & Galloway
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Rispain Camp in Dumfries & Galloway a mile or so to the west of Whithorn.
This is now known to be a fortified Iron Age homestead from about 2,000 years ago. The massive ditch would have had a wooden fence round the top and the site contained up to four roundhouses, probably enough room for four families.
These were of wooden construction, perhaps with a stone hearth in the centre, so little remains of the original houses.
The defences suggest not only that the people living here had something worth protecting but also that they needed to defend themselves to keep hold of it.
This site is so well preserved in terms of its shape and the form of the ditches that for many years it was thought to be Roman in origin. The last photo shows the shape and depth of the defences, all on a slight rise in the ground. Presumably over the intervening millennia the ditches have filled in a little and would have been originally much deeper.
A replica of the sort of roundhouse that would have been built here can be seen in the grounds of Whithorn Priory, linked to below.
Public access is free, there's ample parking nearby but the final path up to the camp (it's invisible at ground level until you reach the hilltop) is a paved farm track, not ideal for the less abled but just about OK for wheelchairs. See the photos.
This is now known to be a fortified Iron Age homestead from about 2,000 years ago. The massive ditch would have had a wooden fence round the top and the site contained up to four roundhouses, probably enough room for four families.
These were of wooden construction, perhaps with a stone hearth in the centre, so little remains of the original houses.
The defences suggest not only that the people living here had something worth protecting but also that they needed to defend themselves to keep hold of it.
This site is so well preserved in terms of its shape and the form of the ditches that for many years it was thought to be Roman in origin. The last photo shows the shape and depth of the defences, all on a slight rise in the ground. Presumably over the intervening millennia the ditches have filled in a little and would have been originally much deeper.
A replica of the sort of roundhouse that would have been built here can be seen in the grounds of Whithorn Priory, linked to below.
Public access is free, there's ample parking nearby but the final path up to the camp (it's invisible at ground level until you reach the hilltop) is a paved farm track, not ideal for the less abled but just about OK for wheelchairs. See the photos.
