Rispain Camp

Rispain Camp

Rispain Camp is an Iron Age fortified camp or homestead dating from the 1st-2nd century AD. When Rispain was first excavated in the Victorian period it was thought to be a Roman fort. Its unusual layout and deep ditches led later archaeologists to believe that it was a moated medieval homestead, perhaps even a castle, defended by banks and moats.

Later carbon dating disproved this hypothesis, and Rispain is now considered to be a late Iron Age farming settlement.

Excavations on the site have unearthed animal and human remains, and the prize find, a Bronze Age axe, which is now in the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow.

The north-west bank and ditch

What to See

Rispain Camp is rectangular, measuring about 223' x 170' on the interior, set within double banks and ditches. The biggest ditch is 25' wide at the top and 15-17' deep. The secondary ditch is now very difficult to trace on the ground, but it was much smaller at only 5' wide and 3' deep. The banks were originally up to three times their current height.

There was apparently a timber gateway in the north-east, linked to a palisade by a causeway over the ditch. Within the enclosure were several timber roundhouses, and what may have been a stone-lined cistern.

Rispain's inhabitants made a living by growing wheat and barley, hunting deer, and keeping cattle, sheep, and pigs.

Atop the south-east bank

Our Visit

To say that I was impressed with Rispain Camp is an understatement; the site is huge! The sheer width and depth of the banks and ditch is staggering. It must have taken an extraordinary amount of work to create the settlement.

The view from the bottom of the southwestern ditch

Getting There

Rispain Camp is signposted on the A746 one mile west of Whithorn. Follow the paved drive to Rispain Farm and park in the stone-walled parking area at the end of the drive.

From there, follow the signs up a farm track and you will see the camp to your left, at the top of a low rise. There is an information panel inside the fence with an artist's impression of what the camp would have looked like.