Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC1487 Castle Hill, Dunbartonshire

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

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HER:  None No record found (None)

NMR:  NS 77 NW 28 (45894)

SM:  90008

NGR:  NS 7091 7610

X:  270910  Y:  676100  (OSGB36)

Summary

Traces of a small fortification can be seen on Castle Hill, a minor rocky summit immediately S of the Antonine Wall to the E of the Bar Hill Roman fort. Defended by two ramparts, both of which have been reduced to little more than terraces visible around the N and W flanks of the hillock, the rocky interior is essentially confined to the summit area and cannot have measured more than 49m from NW to SE by 40m transversely (0.15ha), despite the quarrying that has taken place around the S and SE. Little convincing evidence of an entrance is visible, though RCAHMS in 1955 suggested that there may have been one on the E where a trackway appeared to run obliquely up the NE flank of the hillock, and a second on the SW.

Status

Citizen Science:  

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -453007  Y:  7550568  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -4.069428107080186  Latitude:  55.96055827291305  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  East Dunbartonshire

Historic County:  Dunbartonshire

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Kirkintilloch

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:  150.0m

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:   Quarried and overlain by the OS triangulation pillar

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

Despite appearing in the hachured depiction on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Dunbartonshire 1864, sheet, 25.3), the existence of this fort was first noted during the RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands in 1955. It was revisited by RCAHMS in 1977 and Scheduled in 1999.

Investigations:
Earthwork Survey (1955):   Plan and description during RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands (RCAHMS DBD 2/1-3)
Other (1977):   Description by RCAHMS
Other (1999):   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:  
0:   Highly degraded all round the circuit

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   RCAHMS suggest that one entrance lay on the E and another on the SW, though there is little to be seen on either flank.

Guard Chambers:  

Chevaux de Frise:  

Entrances:No related records

Enclosing Works

Two ramparts visble around the NW

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.15ha.
Total:   0.15ha.

Total Footprint Area:  Noneha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   None

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✗   Quarried on the SE

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

Stony terraces

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

No related records



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


Document Version 1.1