Barsalloch Fort

About Barsalloch Fort

On top of a cliff overlooking the modern coastal road, which was once under water after the retreat of the ice in the post-glacial period, this small promontory fort is comprised of two mounded grassy walls with medial ditch in a horseshoe shape, utilising the cliff edge to form an enclosure of about 1 hectare in area. There is a steep climb up steps, with a parking bay below, and there are panoramic views of the Solway and towards the Rhins of Galloway. This shoreline was occupied long before the Iron Age and deposits from the Mesolithic have been found by local archaeologist WF Cormack. The fort may have enclosed one or more roundhouses, dates back around 2000 years and belongs to a time period when a tribe the Romans called the Novantae inhabited this area of Galloway.