Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: The West of Scotland Archaeology Service 7566 (None)
NMR: NS 45 NW 1 (43011)
SM: 5213
NGR: NS 4117 5880
X: 241170 Y: 658800 (OSGB36)
This large fort is situated on Walls Hill, a long whale-backed ridge girt with cliffs along large sectors of its flanks. The defences are best preserved at the N end, where a single rampart spread about 5m in thickness and no more than 0.6m in height externally can be traced along the crest of the slope and onto the cliff-edges on the E and W respectively. Elsewhere little trace of it can be detected, though about 1837 Andros Crawfurd noted that at the southern end of the fort it stood 1.5m in height internally (Newall 1960, 6), presumably in the sector on the SW where the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Renfrewshire 1863, sheet 15.3) depicts its line along the lip of the relatively gentle and accessible slope, and in places there are numerous stones embedded in the crest of this scarp. The area enclosed is roughly pear-shaped on plan, measuring about 450m from N to S and tapering from a maximum of 200m at the northern end to a point on the S (7ha). Two entrances can be seen at the N end, lying roughly 40m E and W respectively of the point where a modern farm track cuts obliquely through the rampart, and in both cases a deep hollow drops away steeply down the slope. The eastern of these entrances was excavated by Newall in 1956 and sections were cut across the rampart to reveal a complex structure (Newall 1960). The post-holes of two successive round-houses were excavated to its rear, where there had also been medieval occupation.
Citizen Science: ✓
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -504856 Y: 7517982 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -4.5352024780417555 Latitude: 55.79635544886907 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Renfrewshire
Historic County: Renfrewshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Lochwinnoch
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: None
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✓ |
Altitude: 225.0m
N/A
No dating evidence was recovered from the defences
Reliability: D - None
| Pre 1200BC | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50 | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400 | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800 | ✗ |
| Post AD800 | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✓ |
| Pre Hillfort: | None |
| Post Hillfort: | Medival occupation identified in excavation and outside the area improved at the S end there are also traces of rig. |
First depicted in 1857 as an Intrenchment on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Renfrewshire 1863, sheets 11.15 & 15.3), this large fort was planned in 1954 by RCAHMS in the course of the Survey of Marginal Lands (Feachem 1963, 148). Frank Newall conducted excavations here in 1956 (Newall 1956; 1960), and it was resurveyed by the OS at 1:2500 in 1964. It was Scheduled in 1991. It has been photographed from the air on several occasions, firstly by John Dewar (held by RCAHMS), but most recently in 2006 by RCAHMS
| Earthwork Survey (1954): | Plan and description during RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands (RCAHMS DC31522 & DP149873) |
| Excavation (1956): | (Newall 1956; 1960) |
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1957): | Annotated Intrenchment on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Renfrewshire 1863, sheets 11.15 & 15.3) |
| Other (1964): | Resurveyed at 1:2500 by the OS |
| Other (1983): | Visit by the Hill-Fort Study Group |
| Other (1991): | Scheduled |
Partly improved pasture and no visible structure in the remainder; Frank Newall identified successive round-houses and evidence of a medieval occupation in his excavations (Newall 1960)
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 | ✗ |
Two successive timber round-houses claimed by Newall.
| 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 | ✗ |
A few probably IA sherds were recovered, but the majority of the pottery and three spindle whorls belong to a medieval occupation.
| No Known Finds | ✗ |
| Pottery | ✓ |
| Metal | ✗ |
| Metalworking | ✗ |
| Human Bones | ✗ |
| Animal Bones | ✗ |
| Lithics | ✓ |
| Environmental | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
NO APPARENT FEATURES
| APs Not Checked | ✓ |
| None | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
See main summary
| 3: | but a large sector on the SW has also been ploughed down |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (North): | hollowed by traffic |
| 2. Simple Gap (North): | None |
Single rampart
| Area 1: | 7.0ha. |
| Total: | 7.0ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 7.0ha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | While Feachem contends that there was originally a complete circuit, there is no evidence of a rampart along either the E or W flank of the hill. |
| NE Quadrant: | 1 |
| SE Quadrant: | 0 |
| 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 | ✗ |
None
| None | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank | ✓ |
| Stone Wall | ✗ |
| Rubble | ✗ |
| Wall-walk | ✗ |
| Evidence of Timber | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✗ |
| Berm | ✗ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| 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 |
DES (1977) 'Small finds', Disc Exc Scot 1977, 44
Feachem, R (1963) A guide to prehistoric Scotland. Batsford: London
Newall, F (1956) 'Walls Hill', Disc Exc Scot 1956, 20-1
Newall, F (1960) Excavations at Walls Hill, Renfrewshire. Paisley
Newall, F (1970) 'Small finds. Walls Hill, Lochwinnoch; East Green Farm, Kilmacolm', Disc Exc Scot 1970, 45
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