Trusty's Hill

Trusty's Hill
Kirkcudbrightshire
Trusty's Hill
Type:	hillfort
Location
Grid reference:	NX58895601
Location:	54°52’44"N, 4°12’3"W
History
	Built c. 600 AD
Information

Trusty's Hill is a small vitrified hillfort in Kirkcudbrightshire, about a mile to the west of the present-day town of Gatehouse of Fleet. The hamlet of Anwoth is on the west side of the hill, and it is in that parish.

The hill and the fort is on the west side of the Water of Fleet, just where it becomes tidal.

The ruins of Cardoness Castle stand on the south slope of the hill.

The hill is a scheduled ancient monument.

Archaeology

The site is notable for a carved Pictish stone located near the entrance to the fort, one of only a handful of such stones found outside the core Pictish heartland of North-East Scotland. A 2012 archaeological investigation found evidence of feasting and high-status metalworking at the site, and what has been interpreted as a constructed ceremonial processional route.

Together these have led to speculation that the site might have been an important centre or location of royal inaugurations for a Brythonic kingdom centred in Galloway and South-West Scotland, circa 600 AD — perhaps to be identified with the elusive north British kingdom of Rheged, which gained greatest prominence under its King Urien, celebrated in contemporary song, at a similar time in the late 6th century before apparently utterly disappearing in the early 7th century.

Description and history

• 
  1856 drawing of the symbols on the stone. To the left is a double disc with Z-rod, to the right a fish monster and a sword. The head with antennae is a 19th-century addition.
• 
  The stone in 2015, protected by an iron grille.

Outside links

• Toolis, Ronan: Rheged rediscovered: uncovering a lost British kingdom in Galloway: Current Archaeology (May 2017)
• Hoare, James: The Lost Kingdom of Rheged: What the Trusty’s Hill dig can tell us about Celtic Britain: History Answers (31 January 2017)
• Discovery of Lost Dark Age Kingdom In Galloway, Guard Archaeology, 15 January 2017
• The Galloway Picts Project, Excavation
• A Window on Dark Age Galloway, Gatehouse of Fleet community and visitor website, Gatehouse Development Initiative

Further reading

• Toolis, Ronan; Bowles, Christopher (2017). The Lost Dark Age Kingdom of Rheged: the Discovery of a Royal Stronghold at Trusty’s Hill, Galloway. Oxford: Oxbow Books. ISBN 9781785703119.  (Publisher's website; JSTOR; Google Books). Official published report of the 2012 investigation.
• Toolis, Ronan; Bowles, Christopher (24 October 2012). "Excavation and Survey of Trusty’s Hill – Summary Report". https://gallowaypicts.com/gallowaypicts/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/3309_Galloway_picts_Summary_Report.pdf. Retrieved 5 December 2024.