Documents

Where documents include maps, the use of this data is subject to terms and conditions (https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/termsandconditions).

The legal document available for download below constitutes the formal designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The additional details provided on this page are provided for information purposes only and do not form part of the designation. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within this additional information.

• Type

  Legal Documents

  Title

  SM1109_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600003898)

Summary

Description

The monument comprises Balmaclellan Motte, also known as Balmaclellan Mote or Mote Hill, an artificial mound of medieval date of a type normally topped with a timber wall and wooden tower. The monument is being rescheduled now because both the original scheduling document and the file have been lost.

The monument is visible as a turf-covered sand and gravel mound, situated on the SW flank of a hillside at about 110m OD. This small motte lies near the S end of a low ridge, in improved pasture about 150m N of the village of Balmaclellan. The motte stands about 5m high and is shaped like a truncated cone, with a diameter of around 27m at its base and 11m at its summit. There is no trace of an associated bailey (outer enclosure), although the monument has suffered some erosion. A 3m wide ditch was recorded in 1911 by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, but seems to have been ploughed out sometime thereafter. Balmaclellan Motte is unusual in that it is not situated by fresh running water and its summit has a relatively small surface area compared to other examples in Galloway. The motte was apparently partly excavated in antiquity by Dr Murray of Balmaclellan, signs of which are visible at the summit.

In 1275 the Papal tax records the parish of 'Trevercarcou', later known as Balmaclellan, one of five parishes in the Glenkens. In the medieval period the Glenkens had rich soils and minerals and a certain amount of woodland. Trevercarcou was important in the tenth century, at which time it seems to have formed the central homestead of the kingdom of Cumbria's court in the Glenkens. This motte is likely to date to the first half of the twelfth century, however, when prevailing political circumstances encouraged the first influx of Anglo-Norman incomers. There was a high density of mottes in Galloway because the indigenous population was particularly hostile to the Anglo-Normans given the relative inability of central government to maintain any effective authority.

Robert I designated the Glenkens a royal hunting reserve (the 'New Forest') by 1358, but it was one in which the kings of Scots rarely hunted as the campaigns of Edward Baliol rendered it inaccessible after Robert's death. David II began to feu the forest from 1366 and the Park of Balmaclellan, which was created to hold deer, is documented in the fifteenth century. The parish of Trevercarcou came into prominence in 1408 as the 'Barony of Balmaclelane (Maclellan's village), at a time when a number of person-derived placenames begin to appear in the record. 'Balmaclellan' is first recorded as a parish in 1453.

War and plague in the later fourteenth century may have led to the deliberate introduction of a 'colony' to replenish depleted populations, either by the Gordons or the earls of Douglas, or both, as superiors of the lands of Balmaclellan. The Maclellans may have initiated the building of a new parish church around the mid fifteenth century.

Due to inadequacies in the surviving records, the building of the motte cannot be ascribed to an individual or family; nor can it be inferred that the Maclellans reoccupied the site following a period of social depression.

The area proposed for scheduling comprises the motte and an area around it within which related material may be expected to survive. It is circular in plan with a maximum diameter of 36m, as marked in red on the accompanying map.

Statement of National Importance

The monument is of national importance because of its potential to contribute to an understanding of a single period, secular administrative site, of a type characteristic of the medieval period in this part of Scotland. Its significance is enhanced because it is one of a group of similar monuments in this area, which facilitates comparative study. Its importance is further enhanced by its high archaeological potential, which could elucidate the influences provided by the surviving documentation.

References

Bibliography

About Scheduled Monuments

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Scheduling is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for monuments and archaeological sites of national importance as set out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.

We schedule sites and monuments that are found to be of national importance using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Scheduled monument records provide an indication of the national importance of the scheduled monument which has been identified by the description and map. The description and map (see ‘legal documents’ above) showing the scheduled area is the designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The statement of national importance and additional information provided are supplementary and provided for general information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within the statement of national importance or additional information. These records are not definitive historical or archaeological accounts or a complete description of the monument(s).

The format of scheduled monument records has changed over time. Earlier records will usually be brief. Some information will not have been recorded and the map will not be to current standards. Even if what is described and what is mapped has changed, the monument is still scheduled.

Scheduled monument consent is required to carry out certain work, including repairs, to scheduled monuments. Applications for scheduled monument consent are made to us. We are happy to discuss your proposals with you before you apply and we do not charge for advice or consent. More information about consent and how to apply for it can be found on our website at www.historicenvironment.scot.

Find out more about scheduling and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.