Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC1477 Dunmore, Stirlingshire

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

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HER:  Stirling 617 (None)

NMR:  NS 68 NW 10 (45294)

SM:  2575

NGR:  NS 6050 8647

X:  260500  Y:  686470  (OSGB36)

Summary

This fort occupies the rock-girt summit of Dunmore, the hill overlooking Fintry from the WSW. Oblong on plan, it measures about 158m from ESE to WNW by 45m transversely (0.55ha) within a ruined wall about 3.5m in thickness, though this disappears along the SW margin of the summit and elsewhere is largely reduced to a band of rubble with a few outer facing-stones visible a little below the crest of the rocky slope. An outer rampart can be seen on the SE, detaching itself from the main wall and following a natural crest about 3m lower down the slope, and there is a further outwork crossing the gully at the foot of the summit ridge on the E and extending along the E face of a lower terrace, combining with the topography of the outcrops elsewhere to form an annexe measuring about 130m from ESE to WNW by 65m transversely (0.8ha). The main entrance to the fort is on the N, where a gully drops down into the annexe, and there is also a narrow gap in the annexe wall in the bottom of the gully on the ESE. What may be a second entrance on the S descends via a narrow crevice to a lower terrace flanking this side of the fort, extending along which there are traces of a narrow wall of unknown date or purpose; at one point this wall is overlain by the stone footing of a rectangular building.

Status

Citizen Science:  

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -472154  Y:  7568525  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -4.241431381291686  Latitude:  56.050748717824035  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Stirling

Historic County:  Stirlingshire

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Fintry

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:  340.0m

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:   Rectangular hut overlying minor wall on the S, and a marker cairn

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

Identified by RCAHMS in 1953 during the Survey of Marginal Lands and carried over into the preparation of the County Inventory for Stirlingshire (RCAHMS 1963, 76-8, no.77, fig 16), it was visited by the OS in 1957 and 1975, and revisited by RCAHMS in 1978. It was Scheduled in 1966.

Investigations:
Earthwork Survey (1953):   Plan and description during RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands (RCAHMS 1963, 76-8, no.77, fig 16; RCAHMS STD 22/1-4; DP023971)
Other (1957):   Visited by the OS
Other (1966):   Scheduled
1st Identified Map Depiction (1975):   1:10,000 map
Other (1975):   Surveyed at 1:10.000 by the OS
Other (1978):   Description by RCAHMS

Interior Features

Featureless apart from the marker cairn at the ESE end

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:  
2:   None

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   None

Guard Chambers:  

Chevaux de Frise:  

Entrances:
1. Simple Gap (North):   None
2. Simple Gap (South):   None

Enclosing Works

Single rampart

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.55ha.
Area 2:   1.35ha.
Total:   1.35ha.

Total Footprint Area:  1.6ha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   Annex not necessarily different in date

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✗   None

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   1
SE Quadrant:   2
SW Quadrant:   0
NW Quadrant:   1
Total:   2

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

None

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:
✓   A length of wall fronting the E flank of a rocky terrace below the N flank of the fort, controls access to this area and thus forms an annexe below the fort, measuring about 130m from ESE to WNW by 65m transversely (0.8ha). The main entrance to the fort opens into this annexe, and there is probably a gap in its wall in the bottom of a natural gully on the E.

References

RCAHMS (1963) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Stirlingshire: an inventory of the ancient monuments, 2v. HMSO: Edinburgh



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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