 
ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE ANCIENT & HISTORICAL MONUMENTS
& CONSTRUCTIONS OF SCOTLAND
5TH REPORT AND INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS AND CONSTRUCTIONS IN
GALLOWAY, VOL.II, COUNTRY OF THE STEWARTRY OF KIRKCUDBRIGHT - 1914.
PARISH OF BUITTLE.
ECCLESIASTICAL STRUCTURE.
Buittle Church. - The ruins of this church are situated upon high ground close to Buittle Parish Church, and distant about 2.5 miles by road to the south-west of Dalbeattie. They show a building oblong on plan, consisting of a nave and chancel measuring 44 feet by 16 feet 3 inches and 28 feet 7 inches by 19 feet 3 inches respectively, within walls averaging 3 feet 3 inches in thickness. An unusual feature in connection with the plan is the greater width of the chancel as compared with that of the nave, which gives ground for the suggestion that the former has been
 added at a later period. The east wall is pierced by three lancet windows, the arch-heads being pointed to the exterior and segmental to the interior. Within comparatively recent times a square-headed doorway has been formed below the central light. On the exterior of the south wall there is a small doorway, now built up, with a semicircular arch-head, while in the north wall there is a corresponding doorway, also built up, with a pointed arch-head. The side walls have each a narrow window with roughly constructed round arch-heads. The chancel arch is evidently contemporary with the rest of the chancel. It consists of a single pointed arch with chamfered mouldings springing from shafts of pointed section with moulded caps and bases, the whole being characteristic of the first half of the 14th century. The nave appears to have undergone frequent repair in later times, but the greater part of it is of earlier date than the chancel. There are two small round-headed windows in the north and one in the south wall. The west gable has a round-headed doorway and window which may have been reconstructed at a later period. It is surmounted by a plain belfry probably of the 16th century.
Presuming that this is the church of St Colmanel, which seems probable, the earliest reference to it is contained in a Charter of 1381 by Bishop Thomas of Galloway bestowing it on the monks of Sweetheart Abbey.
See Eccles. Arch., ii. p. 300 (plan and illus.);
The Book of Caerlaverock, ii. p. 426.
O.S.M., KIRKCUD., xliii. SW.
Visited 21st July 1911.
CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC STRUCTURES.
Buittle Castle. - The fragmentary ruins of Buittle Castle are situated upon the west bank of the river Urr about 1.5 miles by road west of Dalbeattie. The site has been one of considerable natural strength defended by the river to the north-east and by a broad trench and rampart to landward. On plan the castle has been of the Edwardian type, with curtain walls enclosing a space of about 150 feet by 100 feet, and massive round towers projecting at the angles, as indicated by a few fragments of walling on the south-west slope. The main entrance has undoubtedly been from the north-west, where the existing masonry seems to indicate the central abutment for a drawbridge, measuring some 14 feet by 8 feet 6 inches with side walls 6 feet in thickness, and each having a check 10 inches square hewn at the interior angles of the broken
 terminations towards the north-west. These recesses were possibly designed to hold timber posts which may have been used in connection with the support of the drawbridge. At each side of the abutment are the foundations of a round tower commanding the main entrance, measuring some 15 feet in diameter within walls 6 feet in thickness, joined by a passage 4 feet in width with a narrow window in the north-west wall. The floor of the passage has apparently been about 8 feet below the ground level of the plateau to the north-west, while the depth of the abutment walls from the passage floor to the existing ground level is fully 10 feet. Above the roughly arched entrance to the north-east tower is a fragment of masonry 9 feet in thickness, rising to a height of about 12 feet above the court-yard level.
At some later period, probably during the 17th century, a bridge has been built across the Urr immediately to the north-east of where the castle stood, and the outer slope of the deep fosse to the north and west was then banked up and converted into a roadway, as shown by dotted lines on the plan. All that now remains of the bridge is the south-west abutment, and a portion of the stone causeway formed in the bed of the river; also indications of what was probably a centre pier in midstream. Grose, writing in 1789, says: "the mount, some scattered fragments of walls and the surrounding foss, all overgrown with trees, shrubs, and bushes, are the sole remains of this fortress" -a description still applicable at the present time.
In front of the entrance, and cut off from it by the trench surrounding the castle, is a considerable area of ground roughly triangular, or pear-shaped in form, its longest axis, parallel with the river, measuring 500 feet in length by 300 feet in greatest breadth, and containing about 2.25 acres. The frontage towards the stream presents a steep scarp of artificial appearance with a vertical height of 25 feet or thereby, while the glen of a small stream bounds the northern half of the area to landward, and a sloping bank and hollow, the latter for part of its distance containing a stream from the adjacent Slot Well, demarcates it on the south, and opens into the trench surrounding Baliol's Castle on the west side. Along the edge of the ravine on the north, and with a return for a short distance along the scarp overlooking the river, there are the remains of an artificial mound. The artificial character of the features demarcating this area are not sufficiently determinate to warrant the assumption that it is a defensive work, but it probably formed a forecourt to the castle. Such a court of large extent may be seen in front of the entrance to Tibbers Castle in Dumfriesshire.
The old castle of Buittle, or Botel, was a stronghold of the lords of Galloway, and figures prominently in the early history of the province, particularly during the Wars of Independence in the 13th- 14th centuries, during which period it is said to have been the chief residence of the Baliols, who succeeded through Dervorgilla, daughter of Alan, Lord of Galloway, and wife of John Baliol. That the lands of Buittle were held by the Baliols at this early period is confirmed by a writ (issued by Edward III. in 1348 to secure Edward Baliol in possession) which describes the lands as belonging to Baliol's ancestors from the days of King Alexander, no memory existing of any other owners. On the death of Dervorgilla in 1290 her son John Baliol, King of Scotland, succeeded to the lands of Buittle, and in the civil war which ensued the castle played a prominent part and was attacked by the Bruces. In 1325 the lands of Buittle were bestowed by King Robert on Sir James Douglas (surnamed the Good), and in 1535 they passed to Robert, fifth Lord Maxwell, and Agnes Stewart, his wife. They are now possessed by the family of Maxwell of Munches.
See The Douglas Book, ii. p. 601; Caledonia, v. p. 263 et seq.;
Hist. Dumf. and
Gall., p. 66 et seq.
Grose's Antiquities, ii. p. 182 (illus.).
(Note: Over recent times an archaeological excavation has been carried out
at Buittle Castle, and a reoprt is contained in their web site at: http://www.castledouglas.net/sat/botel.html)
Buittle Place. - This tower stands amongst the farm buildings of Buittle Place about 100 yards to the north-west of the old castle (No. 74), from the ruins of which it was probably built. According to Grose the building was ruinous in 1790. In modern times it has been restored, and is now in occupation. The plan (fig. 53) is of the usual L shape, measuring 36 feet 6 inches by 22 feet 6 inches over the walls, which are 4 feet in thickness. The shorter wing projects about 13 feet from the north wall and is 14 feet in breadth. The ground floor consists of a vaulted and a ceiled cellar respectively in the larger and the shorter wing, and entering one off the other The entrance doorway was probably in the usual place at the re-entering angle, but there is no
 staircase to the first floor within the building. A modern doorway has been formed in the south wall at the first-floor level, approached by a straight flight of stone steps starting at the south-west angle of the main building. A turret staircase corbelled out over the re-entering angle gives access to the upper floors, and slight indications of angle turrets exist at the west angles supported by corbels in the usual way. The turrets have been almost entirely cut away in the construction of the modern roof. The exterior of the building is harled and covered with white-wash, but is in a fair state of repair. Judging by what features remain, it probably dates from the end of the 16th century.
O.S.M., KIRKCUD., xliii. NE.
Visited 31st August 1911.
Orchardton Tower. - This tower (fig. 54) is situated in a quiet valley about 6 miles south-east of Castle-Douglas. The plan (fig. 56) of the building is most unusual, being circular in form, but in other respects closely resembling the arrangement to be found in the smaller castles of the 15th century. To the south, east, and west of the tower are the remains of enclosing walls, reduced to grass-covered mounds, excepting at the south side, where there has been a range of buildings, now represented by the ruins of a vaulted cellar at the south-west angle. This cellar measures about 12 feet 6 inches by 10 feet within walls almost 4 feet in thickness, and has a narrow window in the south wall, while the entrance appears to have been through the north wall, which has been practically demolished.
The ground slopes considerably to the south, showing clearly that the floor level of the cellar must have been several feet below the surface of the ground within the enclosure. The existing entrance to the tower is approached from the east by an outside stair leading to a doorway at the first-floor level. The basement, or ground floor, consists of a rectangular chamber (16 feet 9 inches by 11 feet 9 inches) vaulted in stone and with rounded internal angles, which was probably used for storage purposes. The entrance to this apartment is from the west at the ground level, and light has been introduced by a narrow window in each of the walls to the north, south, and east. The in-goes of the two side windows are fully 8 feet in depth owing to the curve of the exterior walls. It is interesting to note that the plan of this' chamber has been made as nearly as possible rectangular in order that the favourite form of barrel-vault could be utilised in its construction.
The three upper-floor rooms, on the other band, being circular on plan, have been floored with wooden joists. The first-floor apartment is about 17 feet in diameter, within walls measuring 6 feet in thickness, lighted by two windows, one of which, facing north-east, has possibly been converted at a late period into the existing doorway, while the original door to the south has been closed up with iron stanchions and now does duty as a window. The other window to the south-west appears to be original, and has stone seats in the in-goes. On the west side is a fireplace. Here also are the remains of an ambry with a pointed arch-head infilled with trefoil cusping and surmounted by an ogee-section hood-moulding ornamented with foliated enrichment, which, though now much broken, is spirited both in design and execution.
A circular piscina, now much ruined, with a drain, is worked on the sill, indicating the use of this apartment as a chapel. Judging by the mouldings and construction of the arch-head-cut out of two separate stones and meeting in a straight joint at the apex,-it appears to be nearly contemporaneous with similar work at Cardoness (No. 8), 'which probably dates from the latter half of the 15th century. There is also a corbel of somewhat unusual design carved upon the north side of the doorway at the stair foot, at a height of about 3 feet above the floor level. It measures about 10 inches by 9 inches over all, and is almost semicircular on plan, with a small moulding resembling an abacus wrought on the upper part. Towards the lower extremity it tapers considerably, terminating at the wall face in a delicately cut leaf ornament. The position of the corbel in relation to the doorway seems to suggest that it may have been designed to hold a lamp.
Next to what has been called the original entrance is a wheel-stair 4 feet in diameter contained in the thickness of the wall, with a small mural chamber at the stair foot measuring roughly 3 feet 6 inches square, lighted by a narrow window and with a small recess for a lantern opposite the doorway. The staircase communicates directly from this level to the two upper floors, terminating in a quaint cape-house leading to the parapet walk which goes round the top of the walls. The arrangement of the two upper floors is similar, each being well lighted and entered directly off the wheel-stair, the only point worthy of note being the mural garde-robe with a doorway leading from the second-floor apartment adjoining the entrance from the staircase, the latter having a pointed arch-head and the former being finished with a straight lintel, as shown in the section. The whole of the exterior is exceedingly simple in design, the chief features being the small gabled cape house and the projecting parapet supported upon moulded corbels. The walls are of rough rubble work throughout, with a batter of from 8 to 10 inches in the total height of 33 feet from the ground to the level of the parapet walk. Although uninhabited the structure is in a fair state of repair. The wall faces have been roughly pointed and the upper surface of the main vault has been recently cleared of vegetation and cemented.
The lands of Orchardton are said (History of the Family of Cairns, etc.) to have come into the possession of Alexander Carnys, Provost of Lincluden, who died in 1422, and upon them, it is added, John Cairnis erected a residence in the middle of the 15th century.
See Lands and their Owners in Galloway, v. pp. 83, 388; History of the Family of Cairns, etc., p. 59 et seq. (illus.).
O.S.M., KIRKCUD., 1. NE.
Visited 11th September 1911.
DEFENSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS.
Mote (doubtful), Ernespie - About 0.5 mile south-east of Ernespie is a knoll rising from a low, wet-looking hollow, marked "Mote" on the O.S. map. In form it is an irregular oblong lying east-north-east and west-south-west and expanding somewhat in the latter direction. Its greatest height from base to summit is about 12 feet, and its slopes are not uniform in their gradient, which is in all cases an easy one. The contour is also irregular, and there are no sure indications of defences. It is a doubtful site, though its summit at the broad end looks as if it had been levelled. The extreme length is 82 feet, the breadth at the east-north-east end 32 feet and at the west-south-west 50 feet.
O.S.M., KIRKCUD., xliii. NW.
Visited 11th September 1911.
Fort, Camp Hill, Meikle Knox. - The site of this fort is on a shoulder slightly to the north of the summit of a broad-backed hill to the north of Meikle Knox farm. The fort has been much destroyed by cultivation, but appears to have consisted of a double segmental entrenchment with an intervening rampart, probably resting at either end on a steep bank with a long slope to the north-west, but not now actually traceable to it. The construction is too fragmentary for measurement.
O.S.M., KIRKCUD., xliii. NW.
Visited 11th September 1911.
Fort, Nethertown of Almorness. - At the landward end of the promontory terminating in Almorness Point, and dividing Orchardton Bay from the estuary of the Urr, lies a group of low rocky hills rising from a wide encircling base. The name "Castle Hill" covers the group. Immediately to the north-north-east of Nethertown of Almorness, on the summit of one of these rocky eminences which has an elevation of 300 feet above sea-level, are the ruins of a stone-built fort. The hill, lying with its longest axis north-west and south-east, rises by a gradual slope from either end over a surface broken by ridges and terraces of rock, and is very steep on both flanks for the last 30 to 40 feet below the summit. The summit, which is fairly level, has been encircled by a wall of boulders, now entirely broken down measuring some 7 feet in thickness at the ends and somewhat less along the sides, enclosing an area oblong in form with rounded ends, 78 feet in length by 56 feet in breadth. Both ends have been defended with outworks.
At the north-west, where a somewhat level plateau extends beyond the actual summit, the outer lines consist of a wall some 10 to 11 feet thick, parallel along the front with the inner wall, 14 feet distant from it and returned sharply at the east side, and an outer wall resting on the last at its east end, and curving round the plateau with a radius at the centre of 33 feet. These walls at the west side are connected with each other and with the front wall of the main enclosure by short traverses, and are carried westward to a rock face at the edge of the summit, an arrangement not indicated on Mr Coles' plan (op. cit.). At the south end of the fort, at 12 feet from the inner wall, is a terrace supported on a built scarp some 5 feet in height, while 14 feet beyond it is an outer segmental stony rampart curving from flank to flank. Along the west side is a terrace 11 feet below the summit at its north end, and gradually rising as it passes southwards, eventually merging into the natural slope. All along the west side there lie many boulders just protruding from the slope, and it is difficult to discriminate between building and natural outcrop.
On the east side a steep slope, with a declivity of some 40 to 50 feet from the face of the inner enclosing wall, has probably enabled terracing to be dispensed with. The position of the entrance is not apparent. In the interior, close to the south end, are two irregular circular foundations not clearly visible by reason of the bracken.
O.S.M., KIRKCUD., I. SE.
Visited 11th September 1911.
Hill Fort (vitrified), Castlegower. - This fort is situated about 0.33 miles south-east of the farm of Castlegower, from which it is most easily approached. It occupies an isolated rocky eminence rising to a height of 80 feet or thereby from its base to its summit, and lying with its longest axis north-west and south-east. Steep, and in places precipitous on the west side, it rises with a gradual inclination from south-east, while its east flank is steep like the west, but grassy. The summit is an irregular oval measuring some 152 feet by 56 feet.
The lines of the defences are not very clear. Towards the north-west, some 15 feet in elevation below the summit, there is a terrace cut across the steep terminal ridge some 15 feet in width, which appears to be traceable, but by no means definite, round by the east to the south end of the hill. Some 10 feet above this, also at the north-west, is a shelf-like area apparently levelled out of the rock, measuring some 30 feet by 37 feet, above which, some 5 feet in elevation, commences the actual summit, which rises with a slight inclination towards the south-east. Along the higher portion of the summit, especially towards the east, there are distinct traces of a summit rampart or wall, now in the main either pulled out or overgrown with thick turf.
At the south-east end the summit terminates in a scarp some 12 feet in height, below which the terrace traceable along the east flank terminates in a crescent-shaped expansion 24 feet in depth at the centre of the curve. Down the ridge at this end, as the hill dips to its base, a series of rampart-like ridges cross it with hollows opening up from the steeper western slope, all of which appear to be natural. On the summit, resting on the steep west flank, is a broad semicircular hollow, with a chord of about 90 feet, around which the level rises, with, in places, a suggestion of building. On the east side, where the remains of the summit defence are exposed to a very small extent, vitrifaction causing agglutination of the stone is visible. It is noteworthy that this appears firmly embedded on what must be the base of the structure, but its extent can only be ascertained by excavation.
See Antiquaries, xxvi. p. 132 (plan).
O.S.M., KIRKCUD., xliii. SW. Visited 11th September 1911.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Rumbling Well, Barskeoch Hill. - This well is indicated on the O.S. map at the north-west end of Dalbeattie Reservoir on Barskeoch Hill. Symson says in 1684 that it was then "frequented by a multitude of sick people, for all sorts of diseases, the first Sunday of May; lying there the Saturday night, and then drinking of it early in the morning"
Slot Well, Barskeoch Hill. - About 0.5 miles east of the Rumbling Well another well is indicated on the O.S. map called the Slot Well, which is no doubt the well mentioned by Symson as being frequented by country people for a cure when their cattle had a disease known as the "connoch." "This water they carry in vessells to many parts, and wash their beasts with it and give it them to drink. It is, too, rememb'red that at both the wells they leave behind them something by way of a thank-offering. At the first they leave either money or cloathes; at the second they leave the bands and shades wherewith beasts are usually bound." See Symson, p. 16.
O.S.M., KIRKCUD., xliii. NW.
SITES.
Camp, Camp Hill, Milton Park. - The O.S. map marks the site of a camp at Milton Park, about miles south of Haugh of Urr. The hill on which it is indicated has long been under cultivation, and Mr F. R. Coles, describing the "camp" in 1892, in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, xxvi. p. 144, says: "Here
is a nearly circular depression, but how once trenched it is impossible to say."
O.S.M., KIRKCUD., xxxvi. SW. Visited 19th September 1911.
The 0.S. maps also indicate sites as under:
Chapel, south-west of Calfarren Wood, Cairny Hill.
O.S.M., KIRKCUD., I. N.W.
Kirkennan Church and Graveyard, about 400 yards north-north-east of Gardenburn on the west side of the road and of the river Urr.
O.S.M., KIRKCUD., I. NE.
Fort, Ramshaw Wood, to the north-north-east of Court hill and about 400 feet above sea-level.
O.S.M., KIRKCUD., xliii. SE.
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