Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC1242 Largs, Castle Hill, Ayrshire (Cockmalane; Gogo Water)

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

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HER:  The West of Scotland Archaeology Service 5741 (None)

NMR:  NS 25 NW 2 (41166)

SM:  10390

NGR:  NS 2156 5880

X:  221565  Y:  658800  (OSGB36)

Summary

This fort is situated on a steep-sided hillock on the hillside dropping down to Largs on the S side of Gogo Glen. Oval on plan, it measures about 50m from NNE to SSW by 33m transversely (0.13ha) within a heavily robbed rampart, which forms a bank about 2m in thickness and 1m in external height around the S, but elsewhere is marked by little more than a robbing scar. The entrance is on the NE, opening onto a natural gully in this flank of the hillock. The rocky interior is featureless. An external ditch noted by most investigators at the foot of the hillock on the S is almost certainly a misidentification of a hollowed trackway that can be seen climbing the slope on this side of the fort, while others are braided into a complex pattern on the northern flank.

Status

Citizen Science:  

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -539625  Y:  7516628  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -4.847529819392664  Latitude:  55.789514814152135  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  North Ayrshire

Historic County:  Ayrshire

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Largs

Monument Condition

None

Condition:
Extant  
Cropmark  
Likely Destroyed  

Land Use

None

Current Use:
Woodland  
Commercial Forestry Plantation  
Parkland  
Pasture (Grazing)  
Arable  
Scrub/Bracken  
Bare Outcrop  
Heather/Moorland  
Heath  
Built-up  
Coastal Grassland  
Other  

Landscape

Hillfort Type

None

Type:
Contour Fort  
Partial Contour Fort  
Promontory Fort  
Hillslope Fort  
Level Terrain Fort  
Marsh Fort  
Multiple Enclosure Fort  

Topographic Position

Position:
Hilltop  
Coastal Promontory  
Inland Promontory  
Valley Bottom  
Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop  
Ridge  
Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp  
Hillslope  
Lowland  
Spur  

Dominant Topographic Feature:  None

Aspect:
North  
Northeast  
East  
Southeast  
South  
Southwest  
West  
Northwest  
Level  

Altitude:  180.0m

Boundary

N/A


Dating Evidence

In the absence of excavation, there are neither stratified artefacts nor radiocarbon dates to provide a chronology for the defences.

Reliability:  D - None

Principal Activity:
Pre 1200BC  
1200BC - 800BC  
800BC - 400BC  
400BC - AD50  
AD50 - AD400  
AD400 - AD 800  
Post AD800  
Unknown  

Other Activity:
Pre Hillfort:   None
Post Hillfort:   None

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

First depicted in 1855 (Ayrshire 1857, sheet 3.12), it was visited by both David Christison and John Smith in the early 1890s (Christison 1893, 401; Smith 1895, 4). It was subsequently visited in 1942 as part of the RCAHMS Emergency Surveys, and again in 1952 for the Survey of Marginal Lands. The OS revised the 1:2500 survey in 1964, and revisited in 1983. It was Scheduled in 2002.

Investigations:
1st Identified Map Depiction (1855):   Named in Gothic type on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Ayrshire 1860, sheet 16.1)
Other (1891):   Description by David Christison (1893, 401)
Other (1895):   Description by John Smith (1895, 4)
Other (1942):   Visiterd by Angus Graham and Gordon Childe for the RCAHMS wartime Emergency Surveys
Other (1952):   Description for RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands
Other (1964):   Surveyed at 1:2500 by the OS
Other (1983):   Visited by the OS
Other (2002):   Scheduled

Interior Features

Featureless

Water Source

None

Source:
None  
Spring  
Stream  
Pool  
Flush  
Well  
Other  

Surface

None

Interior Features (Surface):
No Known Features  
Round Stone Structures  
Rectangular Stone Structures  
Curvilinear Platforms  
Other Roundhouse Evidence  
Pits  
Quarry Hollows  
Other  

Excavation

None

Interior Features (Excavation):
No Known Excavation  
Pits  
Postholes  
Roundhouses  
Rectangular Structures  
Roads/Tracks  
Quarry Hollows  
Other  
Nothing Found  

Geophysics

None

Interior Features (Geophysics):
No Known Geophysics  
Pits  
Roundhouses  
Rectangular Structures  
Roads/Tracks  
Quarry Hollows  
Other  
Nothing Found  

Finds

None

Interior (Finds):
No Known Finds  
Pottery  
Metal  
Metalworking  
Human Bones  
Animal Bones  
Lithics  
Environmental  
Other  

Aerial

NO APPARENT FEATURES

Interior Features (Aerial):
APs Not Checked  
None  
Roundhouses  
Rectangular Structures  
Pits  
Postholes  
Roads/Tracks  
Other  

Entrances

See main summary

Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts:  
1:   None

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   None

Guard Chambers:  

Chevaux de Frise:  

Entrances:
1. Simple Gap (North east):   Hollowed approach via a gully.

Enclosing Works

Single rampart

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.13ha.
Total:   0.13ha.

Total Footprint Area:  Noneha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   None

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✓   None

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   1
SE Quadrant:   1
SW Quadrant:   1
NW Quadrant:   1
Total:   1

Morphology

Current Morphology:
Partial Univallate  
Univallate  
Partial Bivallate  
Bivallate  
Partial Multivallate  
Multivallate  
Unknown  

Detailed Morphology:
Partial Univallate  
Univallate  
Partial Bivallate  
Bivallate  
Partial Multivallate  
Multivallate  

Surface Evidence

Grass-grown rubble bank

Enclosing Works (Surface):
None  
Earthen Bank  
Stone Wall  
Rubble  
Wall-walk  
Evidence of Timber  
Vitrification  
Other Burning  
Palisade  
Counter Scarp Bank  
Berm  
Unfinished  
Other  

Excavated Evidence

None

Enclosing Works (Excavation):
None  
Earthen Bank  
Stone Wall  
Murus Duplex  
Timber-framed  
Timber-laced  
Vitrification  
Other Burning  
Palisade  
Counter Scarp Bank  
Berm  
Unfinished  
No Known Excavation  
Other  

Other

Gang Working:
✗   None

Ditches:
✗   None

Number of Ditches:  None

Annex:
✗   None

References

Christison, D (1893) 'The prehistoric forts of Ayrshire'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 27, 381-405

Smith, J (1895) Prehistoric man in Ayrshire. London



Terms of Use

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


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