Ballaggan Motte

Ballaggan Motte is a small mound with a terrace running part way down the slopes situated at the corner of a platform of slightly higher land overlooking the junctions of the Marr Burn and the Goat Burn about a mile north-west of Drumlanrig Castle. The mound crosses a field boundary, and the southern part is slightly truncated as a result.

The mound rises about 6 metres above the lower lying land, and about 2.5 above the platform that it sits on, and the oval summit is about 7.5 metres by 9 in size. The terrace in places takes the appearance of a ditch, and broadly speaking follows the contour of the platform. The location strategically is neither strong nor particularly important, and the lack of any perceptible bailey or courtyard area means that it is a very modest structure. It seems likely that it dates to the 12th or 13th century, and that it fell out of use in the 14th century at the latest. The lack of strategic purpose suggests that it may have housed a modest hall of some description that may have served as a hunting lodge for the early lords of Nithsdale, perhaps surviving into the times of the Randolphs. It is unlikely to have remained in use much later, unless it was used as the location for a windmill.

HES Canmore database entry