Trusty's Hill

About Trusty's Hill

It was a fortified citadel with a number of lesser enclosures looping out along lower lying land below. It appears to have been built around 475AD when Galwyddel (Galloway) was under the overlordship of the southern dynasty of Strathclyde. This may well have been the capital of Tutgual, first Chief of Galwyddel, and later also High Chief of Strathclyde.
Trusty’s Hill was certainly an important metalworking centre using local copper, iron and lead from the Southern Uplands, with highly skilled smiths fashioning bronze and iron objects such as pins, brooches and decorated horse harness. Around 550AD, perhaps as a result of serious decimation of the population by the bubonic plague, Strathclyde seems to have moved out and Rheged moved in, without any apparent evidence of conflict

Directions: Trusty’s Hill is about a mile South West of Gatehouse of Fleet. The easiest approach is to turn off the main A75 at Cardoness Castle, which takes you into Gatehouse of Fleet. At a sharp right-hand turn, at the 30 mph start, just before entering the town, notice a small lane called Planetree Park on the left. Continue into the town, and park in the car park on the right-hand side, opposite the entrance to Mill on the Fleet. This has an exhibition about Trusty’s Hill, which you may want to visit before walking back along the road, and up Planetree Park. Follow the road, keeping to the right until you come to a cattle grid at the top of the hill. There is a small gate to your left, this will take you over a stepped wall and onto the path to Trusty’s Hill.