Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Isle of Man No record found (None)
NMR: SC26NW 6 (300600)
SM: None
NGR: SC24656810
X: 224650 Y: 468100 (OSGB36)
Contour hillfort located on prominent, but low, SW-facing promontory above the coast and sea on E shore of Bay ny Carrickey on S of island. Commanding position overlooking sea despite moderate surrounding slopes. Oval shape. Rampart of much stone surrounds the site, now to c. 1.4m high and 1m wide. There may be an outer ditch on NW and WSW. Bank encloses an area of much Iron Age occupation deposits, including many postholes. Out-turned entrance on W side c. 6m wide, with another possibly on NE and SE, but uncertain. Within the interior of the fort excavations by Bersu 1945 found Mesolithic and Neolithic occupation material and, possibly Bronze Age, cremations and inhumations, with stone-lined cist-grave, but no capstone or mound. There are probable barrows on the hill. Cemetery of Christian lintel graves, possibly associated with, now missing, pre-Norse keeill, was deliberately overlain by Viking ship burial on W of site. Keeill of c. 10th-11th century on E side in possible enclosure. Clearly an important ritual site for millennia. Managed grassland. Rampart degraded, but well-preserved. Under state guardianship. On 1st Ed. OS map (1868-78).
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -521189 Y: 7185111 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -4.681921536704436 Latitude: 54.07888939720029 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Isle of Man
Current County or Unitary Authority: Rushen
Historic County: Rushen
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Arbory
Rampart degraded, but well-preserved. Under Manx National Heritage guardianship.
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
Managed grassland.
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✓ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✗ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Contour hillfort located on prominent, but low, SW-facing promontory above the coast and sea on E shore of Bay ny Carrickey on S of island. Commanding position overlooking sea despite moderate surrounding slopes.
| Contour Fort | ✓ |
| Partial Contour Fort | ✗ |
| Promontory Fort | ✗ |
| Hillslope Fort | ✗ |
| Level Terrain Fort | ✗ |
| Marsh Fort | ✗ |
| Multiple Enclosure Fort | ✗ |
| Hilltop | ✓ |
| Coastal Promontory | ✗ |
| Inland Promontory | ✗ |
| Valley Bottom | ✗ |
| Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop | ✗ |
| Ridge | ✗ |
| Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp | ✗ |
| Hillslope | ✗ |
| Lowland | ✗ |
| Spur | ✗ |
Dominant Topographic Feature: Low hill
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✓ |
Altitude: 50.0m
N/A
Probably Iron Age, but no dating evidence for fort as such.
Reliability: C - Low
| Pre 1200BC | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50 | ✓ |
| AD50 - AD400 | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800 | ✓ |
| Post AD800 | ✓ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Pre Hillfort: | None |
| Post Hillfort: | None |
On 1st Ed. OS map (1868-78). Antiquarian investigations 1918. Excavation G. Bersu 1945.
| Other (1918): | Antiquarian investigations. |
| Excavation (1945): | G. Bersu. |
| Other (1995): | Visited by Hillfort Study Group |
| Other (2015): | Visited by Hillfort Study Group |
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (None): | OS map. |
Bank encloses an area of much Iron Age occupation deposits, including many postholes, but no clear plan of structures, which no doubt existed.
None
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
No clear plan or detail of Iron Age hillfort structures, which no doubt existed.
| No Known Features | ✗ |
| Round Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Rectangular Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Curvilinear Platforms | ✗ |
| Other Roundhouse Evidence | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✓ |
Bank encloses an area of much Iron Age occupation deposits, including many postholes.
| No Known Excavation | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✓ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✓ |
| Nothing Found | ✗ |
Geophysics of keeill.
| No Known Geophysics | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✓ |
| Nothing Found | ✗ |
Neolithic polished axe head. Many Viking grave goods.
| No Known Finds | ✗ |
| Pottery | ✗ |
| Metal | ✓ |
| Metalworking | ✗ |
| Human Bones | ✓ |
| Animal Bones | ✗ |
| Lithics | ✓ |
| Environmental | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| APs Not Checked | ✓ |
| None | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Out-turned entrance on W side c. 6m wide, with others possibly on NE and SE, but uncertain.
| 3: | Gaps on NE and SE uncertain. |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Out-turned (West): | None |
| 2. Simple Gap (North east): | Uncertain. |
| 3. Simple Gap (South east): | Uncertain. |
Rampart of much stone surrounds the site, now to c. 1.4m high and 1m wide. There may be an outer ditch on NW and WSW.
| Area 1: | Noneha. |
| Total: | Noneha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✓ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 1 |
| SE Quadrant: | 1 |
| SW Quadrant: | 1 |
| NW Quadrant: | 1 |
| Total: | 1 |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✓ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
Rampart contains much stone.
| None | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank | ✓ |
| Stone Wall | ✗ |
| Rubble | ✓ |
| Wall-walk | ✗ |
| Evidence of Timber | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✗ |
| Berm | ✗ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Limited information.
| None | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank | ✓ |
| Stone Wall | ✗ |
| Murus Duplex | ✗ |
| Timber-framed | ✗ |
| Timber-laced | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✗ |
| Berm | ✗ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| No Known Excavation | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
| ✗ | None |
| ✓ | There may be an outer ditch on NW and WSW. |
Number of Ditches: 1
| ✗ | None |
Bersu, G. and Wilson, D.M. 1966. Three Viking graves in the Isle of Man, Society for Medieval Archaeology, Monograph 1, London: Society for Medieval Archaeology.
Atlas of Hillforts:
Wikidata:
This work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
and should be cited as:
Lock, Gary and Ralston, Ian. 2024. Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland. Available at: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk
Document Version 1.1