Tynron Doon


Tynron Doon is a multivallate iron age hill fort outside the village of Tynron in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It was occupied on and off from the 1st millennium BC until the 16th century, when an L shaped tower house stood there. Tynron Doon lies at the southern end of the Scaur hills.

Description

The original site is thought to be a multivallate hill fort dating to the Iron Age, of much the same plan as the modern remains.
The site is itself a spur hill of Auchengibbert Hill, and reaches in height. The summit has an approximately oval plateau, of in extent. The fort was built in a natural defensive position defended by steep slopes on the north, south and east sides. The western approach was made defensive by the addition of three ditches and two ramparts, with some of the ditches rock-cut.
In the 15th century the hill was the site of one of nine beacons maintained by the Sheriffs of Nithsdale and Annandale.
In the late medieval era an L-shaped tower house was built in the northwest corner of the central area, with floor plan of roughly ; a smaller extension to the northwest is speculated to have been a tower stair.
The tower house is thought to have been demolished between 1700 and 1750, used to build the church in Tynron and a barmkin wall fortification enclosing the summit may have been added in around the same period.
A hut circle dating to the 18th/19th C. is though to have been a shepherd's bothy.