Rispain, about a mile to the south of Whithorn and alongside the same Ket Burn, is a native British homestead ca. 200BC – 200AD. Its massive rectangular ditch and earthen banks enclosed and protected one or more circular houses and provided a refuge for livestock. Barsalloch is a similar smaller homestead.
For many years, local antiquarians supposed that the impressive earthworks at Rispain were of Roman origin, with their virtually square design. Modern understanding of the Romans' limited intervention in Scotland, and recent excavations have revealed that Rispain was in fact a fortified farm of the native British people, containing several roundhouses, and with room for a settlement of families and animals. It may be visited by parking at the farmyard and passing through the kissing-gates to the causeway leading into the site. From the Rispain plateau, the Church of Whithorn can be clearly seen.
According to an unbroken tradition dating from the earliest times and confirmed in the writings of the Venerable Bede in the 8th century, a holy man named Nynia, born among the British people, introduced the Christian faith into a significant part of the land now known as Scotland long before the coming of Saint Columba.
