Rough Hill motte

Rough Hill is a motte on which once stood a large stone castle.

It occupies a site on a promontory formed by the Kittoch Water to the north and a tributary to the east. The south and west sides were defended by a 15m wide ditch which is now only just visible.

The motte itself is around 3m high, with a flat top measuring approximately 40m east to west by 22m north to south.

On the top of the motte in the western half was a large stone tower measuring around 22m by 19m, with walls almost 2m thick.

Stone from the castle was extensively robbed for local dry stane wall building, and during the course of this a large vault was discovered around 1743. It was filled in, and today there is very little to see on the site apart from a scattering of stones and a flattened platform where the castle stood.

Just 180m away is Castle Hill, the two being separated by the Kittoch Water and a stretch of land known as Castleflat.

Rough Hill is thought to have been a Douglas property, but James Douglas, the 9th Earl of Douglas, forfeited his estates in 1455 after fighting with King James II, and his lands were granted to James Hamilton, the 1st Lord Hamilton.