Scheduled MonumentsScotlandRound Dounan,fort,Dunragit House
Iron Age · Fort,dunragit house

Round Dounan,fort,Dunragit House

Scotland
HES SM1995
Period
Iron Age
Site type
Fort,dunragit house
Nation
Scotland
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic Environment Scotland

Overview

History & significance

Round Dounan is an Iron Age fort situated in Wigtownshire, south-west Scotland. The monument occupies a naturally defensive position on bedrock of the Portpatrick and Glenwhargen Formations, Caradocian wacke that would have provided a stable foundation for the fort's ramparts and internal structures. This geological foundation is typical of the upland terrain across the region, where Iron Age communities selected prominent locations for settlement and defence.

The fort is protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM1995, reflecting its significance as evidence of Iron Age settlement patterns in south-west Scotland. Round Dounan demonstrates the strategic choice of landscape exploitation characteristic of the period, when such fortified positions served as focal points for settlement and territorial control.

The monument remains a valuable archaeological resource for understanding Iron Age society in Wigtownshire, contributing to the broader picture of settlement distribution and social organisation across the region during the first millennium before Christ.

Round Dounan,fort,Dunragit House is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM1995. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Round Dounan,fort,Dunragit House?

Round Dounan is an Iron Age fort situated in Wigtownshire, south-west Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM1995.

What period does Round Dounan,fort,Dunragit House date from?

Round Dounan,fort,Dunragit House dates from the iron age period, and is classified as a fort,dunragit house. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.

Who is responsible for protecting Round Dounan,fort,Dunragit House?

Round Dounan,fort,Dunragit House is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic Environment Scotland — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Scotland. The official designation reference is SM1995.

What other scheduled monuments are near Round Dounan,fort,Dunragit House?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Droughdool Mote, ritual mound (1.1 km), Unenclosed settlement, 1180m SE of Mark (3.4 km), Mark Cottage, palisaded enclosure 1010m SE of (3.5 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Round Dounan,fort,Dunragit House

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Round Dounan,fort,Dunragit House's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Stat Accounts
The parish Statistical Accounts of the 1790s and 1830s, describing life, work and population here.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Round Dounan,fort,Dunragit House

Round Dounan,fort,Dunragit House stands on Portpatrick Formation And Glenwhargen Formation (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Caradocian. The rock here is wacke.