Trusty's Hill

Trusty's Hill
Trusty's Hill is located in Dumfries and Galloway
Trusty's Hill
Shown within Dumfries and Galloway
Locationnear Gatehouse of Fleet, Dumfries and Galloway
Coordinates54°52′43.97″N 4°12′3.42″W / 54.8788806°N 4.2009500°W / 54.8788806; -4.2009500
OS grid referenceNX58895601
Typehillfort
Length29 m (95 ft)
Width17 m (56 ft)
Area0.04 ha (0.099 acres) (summit enclosure)
History
Foundedc. 600 AD
Abandonedearly 7th century
Site notes
Excavation dates1960, 2012
Designated19 January 1926
Reference no.SM1100

Trusty's Hill is a small vitrified hillfort about a mile to the west of the present-day town of Gatehouse of Fleet, in the parish of Anwoth in the Stewartry district of Dumfries and Galloway.

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. Recent (2012) archaeological investigation has also 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 legendary leader Urien at a similar time in the late 6th century before apparently utterly disappearing in the early 7th century.