Eskdalemuir Wednesday 10th Feb 2016

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Having heard very good things about the Eskdalemuir Community Hub & Old School Café we set off to visit on a beautiful sunny day. (not been able to say that for ages!!) This is a multi-purpose centre owned and managed for the community.
It provides drinks, snacks, lunches & dinners, with delicious home cooking, using local produce. The prices are very reasonable and they are open all year round.
Although too early for lunch, we called in to see if they had details about the Prehistoric Trail that we had seen advertised on the way. After a very helpful chat with staff in the centre we set off to visit Castle O’er Fort.
The idea of the trail was to outline and waymark a route in Westerkirk and Eskdalemuir, accessible to motorists or cyclists who were prepared to do a modest amount of walking, linking several prehistoric sites of outstanding archaeological interest.
Nine sites were chosen from the roughly sixty sites which were identified in Westerkirk and Eskdalemuir during an archaeological survey of the 1970s. They provide a circular route starting near Bentpath on the B709 and going up the west side of the Esk to Eskdalemuir village and back down the east side. The sites are near the road but all need to be approached on foot.
With much support and advice, interpretation panels have been provided at each site.
Boxes attached to the panel posts contain laminated information sheets with site plans (reproduced by kind permission of RCAHMS) where appropriate. We were warned that at the moment some of the information panels and/or laminated sheets have been blown away/damaged in the bad weather.
 
 
The trail consists of 9 sites:-
1. Boonies:- A  Romano-British farmstead
2.Bailiehill Fort:- A magnificent hill citadel
3.The Knowe:- A fortlet, farm or fortified croft.
4.Castle O'er Fort:- The most superb of the Esk valley hill forts.
5. Over Rig:- A unique and perplexing site – fascinating but mysterious
6. Bessie's Hill:- A fort and enclosure
7.The Loupin' Stanes:- A small but impressive stone ring.
8.The Girdle Stanes:- A large stone ring.
9. King Schaw's Grave:- A burial kist, once buried under a vast cairn.
 
As I said, we decided to visit Castle O’er Fort, reported to be the most spectacular of the Esk valley forts.  It was very frosty in places where the sun still had to reach.
 

 We set off along the track and made our way up the well-defined path. It took a little effort to reach the fort but the path is not too steep.  There are earthworks and ramparts used to defend the fort at various times, but not being archaeologists we didn’t really understand all the bumps and lumps in the ground.
 
 
However the views are amazing – especially on a day when the sun shines! It is easy to see why the fort was built on the top of the hill and how they would have been able to defend their position.
 
 
Coming back down the hill was obviously much easier than going up and we returned to the Hub for what was a very tasty lunch. The soup was like a meal in itself! Passing by some of the boards for other features on the trail, we decide not to investigate any others today but to use them as an excuse to come back again!!

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