Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Dumfries & Galloway MDG6986 (None)
NMR: NY 17 NE 2 (66626)
SM: 667
NGR: NY 1860 7870
X: 318600 Y: 578700 (OSGB36)
The fort occupying the prominent, table-topped landmark known as Burnswark encloses an area of about 7ha and is also the focus for a series of Roman earthworks which have been interpreted by some a evidence of a siege, but are perhaps more likely to be the result of exercises in siege warfare. For the most part the defences of the fort comprise a single rampart set along the shoulder of the hill, but along the SE flank, facing onto the well-known Roman South Camp, there is a second rampart, though now reduced to little more than a scarp on the slope. In this sector there are also three entrances, at which the outer ramparts turn inwards to form deep re-entrants in the defences; there is probably a fourth entrance opening into a natural re-entrant in the topography on the NW flank of the hill. Although there is little evidence on the ground of any house platforms within the interior, under some lighting conditions aerial photography reveals numerous shallow dimples in the surface of the western summit of the hill, and these almost certainly mark the positions of timber round-houses. Excavations 1965-8 by George Jobey also uncovered pits post-holes and foundation trenches belonging to several timber round-houses on the western summit, as well as several deposits containing material of Roman date. Following up earlier work on the defences in 1898-9 by James Barbour, Jobey not only discovered a palisade trench to the rear of the rampart on the S side of the eastern summit, but in cuttings adjacent to the W gateway he identified two probably phases of construction in the inner rampart, the earlier combining revetments of upright timbers both front and rear, and the later a capping with a stone revetment set in a dug slot at the front; this latter construction was also found in the outer rampart, which was assigned to the second of these phases. Radiocarbon dates suggest that the first phase falls in the first half of the 1st millennium BC. In addition he cut trenches across what had been previously identified as earlier lines of enclosure, the first on the scarp forming the E flank of the W summit, and the second cutting off the E summit, but in neither case found evidence of a rampart, the former capped by no more than a low turf bank, and the latter the upcast from old drains. An earlier burial cairn stands on the central spine of the hill, while a later military fortification was erected on the western summit in the 17th century (Jobey 1973).
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -364806 Y: 7380529 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -3.277107068136551 Latitude: 55.096045675060545 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Dumfries & Galloway
Historic County: Dumfriesshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Hoddom
None
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
None
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✓ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✓ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| 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: Dominates whole of Lower Annandale
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✓ |
Altitude: 275.0m
N/A
Old c14 dates apparently indicate an early Iron Age date for the rampart of the fort, but occupation in the interior has also produced a Roman Iron Age assemblage.
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 |
| Artefactual: | None |
| C14: | None |
First described in 1726 by Alexander Gordon (1726) with the aid of a schematic sketch, the complex of earthworks at Burnswark is first surveyed in greater detail by William Roy, both for the Military Map (1747-55) and his work on Roman works (1793, pl.xvi), this focussing more on the two camps to either side of the fort. It is depicted in 1857 as two separate enclosures occupying the E and W summits respectively on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Dumfriesshire 1862, sheets 51.11-12), and first appears as a single fortified enclosure on the revision of the map prepared in 1898 (Dumfriesshire 1899, sheets 51.11-12), the same year that James Barbour drew up his plan for the campaign of excavations by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (Barbour et al 1899), also depicting the Roman Camps and other earthworks around the foot of the hill. Visited in 1915 by RCAHMS in the preparation of the County Inventory for Dumfriesshire (RCAHMS 1920, 94-101, fig 70), it was re-surveyed by the OS at 1:2500 in 1966, during the period 1965-68 when George Jobey conducted a series of excavations on the hill (Jobey 1973; 1978). RCAHMS drew up a new map of the earthworks in 1994 (1997, 179-82, fig 192)
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1726): | Alexander Gordon (1726) |
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1755): | Roy's Map 1747-55 |
| Earthwork Survey (1793): | William Roy (1793, pl.xvi); actual date of survey unknown |
| Other (1857): | Annotated Forts on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Dumfriesshire 1862, sheets 51.11-12) |
| Excavation (1898): | And Survey (Barbour, Christison & Anderson 1899) |
| Other (1898): | Annotated Forts and Earthwork on the 2nd edition OS 25-inch map (Dumfriesshire 1899, sheets 51.11-12) |
| Other (1915): | Description and shematic plan probably redrawn from Barbour (RCAHMS 1920, 94-101, fig 70) |
| Other (1961): | Scheduled |
| Excavation (1966): | George Jobey 1965-68 (1978) |
| Other (1966): | Resurveyed at 1:2500 by the OS |
| Excavation (1967): | George Jobey 1965-68 (1978) |
| Excavation (1968): | George Jobey 1965-68 (1978) |
| Earthwork Survey (1994): | Outline survey (RCAHMS 1997, 179-82, fig 192) |
| Geophysical Survey (2013): | Details awaited; new excavations planned |
Apart from Cairn and military redoubt, dimpling suggests house platforms and excavations have revealed timber round-houses
None
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| No Known Features | ✗ |
| Round Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Rectangular Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Curvilinear Platforms | ✓ |
| Other Roundhouse Evidence | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| No Known Excavation | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✓ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
| Nothing Found | ✗ |
None
| No Known Geophysics | ✓ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
| Nothing Found | ✗ |
Extensive assemblage from the excavations, principally comprising Roman material, including not only stone ballista balls and lead glandes from the Roman artillery, but also domestic debris such as pottery and bronze work. Fragments of glass bangles and beads were also recovered, and stone artefacts include a fragment of a Neolithic polished stone axe.
| No Known Finds | ✗ |
| Pottery | ✓ |
| Metal | ✓ |
| Metalworking | ✗ |
| Human Bones | ✗ |
| Animal Bones | ✗ |
| Lithics | ✓ |
| Environmental | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Dimples reveal house stances
| APs Not Checked | ✗ |
| None | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✓ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
See main summary
| 5: | A gap on the SW is evidently no original to the fort |
| 2: | Three in SE flank and one on the NW |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Passage-way/Corridor (South east): | E entrance; in deep re-entrant |
| 2. Passage-way/Corridor (South east): | Central entrance; outer rampart turns inwards into re-entrant, where there is a rock-cut passage-way |
| 3. Passage-way/Corridor (South east): | W entrance; outer rampart turns inwards to flank rock-cut passageway in an otherwise simple gap |
| 3. Hollow Way (South east): | Deeply hollowed trackway mounts the slope obliquely, but cuts the rampart |
| 4. Simple Gap (North west): | In a deep natural re-entrant in the hill |
Single rampart with additional outwork along the SE side
| Area 1: | 7.0ha. |
| Total: | 7.0ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✓ | None |
| ✓ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 1 |
| SE Quadrant: | 2 |
| SW Quadrant: | 1 |
| NW Quadrant: | 1 |
| Total: | 2 |
| Partial Univallate | ✓ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✓ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
None
| None | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank | ✓ |
| Stone Wall | ✗ |
| Rubble | ✗ |
| Wall-walk | ✗ |
| Evidence of Timber | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✗ |
| Berm | ✗ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Timber revetments in phase 1 rampart
| 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 |
| ✗ | None |
Number of Ditches: None
| ✗ | None |
Barbour, J, Christison, D & Anderson, J (1899) 'Account of the excavation of the camps and earthworks at Birrenswark Hill in Annandale, undertaken by the Society in 1898', Proc Soc Antiq Scot 33 (1898-9), 198-249 Feachem, R (1963) A guide to prehistoric Scotland. Batsford: London (p 116)
Gordon, A (1726) Itinerarium septentrionale: or a journey thro' most of the counties of Scotland and those in the north of England, London
Jobey, G (1973) 'A military redoubt on Burnswark Hill, Dumfriesshire'. Trans Dumfriesshire Galloway Natur Hist Antiq Soc, 3 ser, 50 (1973), 72-81
Jobey, G (1978) 'Burnswark Hill, Dumfriesshire', Trans Dumfriesshire Galloway Natur Hist Antiq Soc, 3 ser, 53 (1978), 57-104
RCAHMS (1920) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Seventh Report with Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in the County of Dumfries, Edinburgh
Reid, J. 2016. Bullets, ballistas and Burnswark. A Roman assault on a hillfort in Scotland. Current Archaeol, 316, 20-26.
Roy, W (1793) The Military Antiquities of the Romans in Britain, London
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