Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC1576: Lesmahagow, Black Hill  

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HER:  The West of Scotland Archaeology Service 10294

NMR:  NS 84 SW 2 (46670)

SM:  2882

NGR:  NS 8318 4350

X:  283180  Y:  643500  (EPSG:27700)

Boundary:  

Summary

This fort stands on the summit of Black Hill, which forms part of a prominent ridge rising up on the W side of the Clyde Valley. Oval on plan, it measures 155m from NW to SE by 108m transversely (1.22ha) within a single stone rampart spread between 3m and 5m in thickness. Planted with trees in the 19th century, the only feature visible within the interior is a Bronze Age cairn measuring 18m in diameter by 0.9m in height on the summit. No entrance has been identified. On the SE the rampart of the fort has been incorporated into the circuit of an oval settlement earthwork measuring 78m from NE to SW by 58m transversely (0.35ha) within twin ramparts about 4.6m in thickness and standing 0.6m in height above the bottom of a medial ditch; two crescentic scarps on the W are probably the remains of house platforms and the entrance is on the SW. Despite the curious junction with the fort on the NW, this earthwork in its hilltop position qualifies as a fort in its own right. See Atlas No. 1577.

Status

Citizen Science:  ✗  

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -429581  Y:  7493186  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -3.858988  Latitude:  55.670941  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  South Lanarkshire

Historic County:   Lanarkshire

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Lesmahagow

Condition

Extant:  
Cropmark:  
Likely Destroyed:  

Land Use

Formerly under a 19th century plantation

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

Landscape

Hillfort Type

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

Topographic Position

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

Dominant Topographic Feature:  

Aspect

North:  
Northeast:  
East:  
Southeast:  
South:  
Southwest:  
West:  
Northwest:  
Level:  

Elevation

Altitude:  290.0m

Boundary

Boundary Type:  

Second HER:  

Second Current County or Unitary Authority:  

Second Historic County:  

Second Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  

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

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

Pre Hillfort Activity:  ✓  Earlier burial cairn on the summit

Post Hillfort Activity:  ✓  Later settlement earthwork apparently incorporates the fort rampart into its circuit, and both overlain by a plantation wall

None:  No details.

Investigations

The cairn on the summit is depicted on Roy's Map (1747-55), but having been covered with trees since the early 19th century, the fort was first noted during the RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands in 1955 and was planned in 1959 (RCAHMS 1978, 94-5, no.217 fig 48). It was surveyed by the OS at 1:2500 in 1966 and Scheduled in 1969.

Other (1955):  Discovered RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands
Earthwork Survey (1959):  Plan and description (RCAHMS 1978, 94-5, no.217 fig 48; RCAHMS LAD 29/1; LAD 29/2 & SC337263)
1st Identified Map Depiction (1966):  Surveyed at 1:2500 by the OS
Other (1969):  Scheduled

Interior Features

Featureless apart from the summit cairn

Water Source

None:  
Spring:  
Stream:  
Pool:  
Flush:  
Well:  
Other:  

Surface

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

Excavation

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

Geophysics

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

Finds

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

Aerial

NO APPARENT FEATURES

APs Not Checked:  
None:  
Roundhouses:  
Rectangular Structures:  
Pits:  
Postholes:  
Roads/Tracks:  
Other:  

Entrances

None known

Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts:  0:  None recorded but heavily mutilated all round the circuit

Number of Possible Original Entrances:   

Guard Chambers:  

Chevaux de Frise:  ✗  

Enclosing Works

Single rampart

Enclosed Area 1:  1.22ha.
Enclosed Area 2:  
Enclosed Area 3:  
Enclosed Area 4:  
Total Enclosed Area:  1.2ha.

Total Footprint Area:  1.44ha.

Multi-period Enclosure System:  ✓  

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:  ✓  

Number of Ramparts:  1

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

Current Morphology

Partial Univallate:  
Univallate:  
Partial Bivallate:  
Bivallate:
Partial Multivallate:  
Multivallate:  
Unknown:  

Multi-period Morphology

Partial Univallate:  
Univallate:  
Partial Bivallate:  
Bivallate:  
Partial Multivallate:  
Multivallate:  

Surface Evidence

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

Excavated Evidence

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

Gang Working

Gang Working:  ✗ 

Ditches

Ditches:  

Number of Ditches:  

Annex

Annex:  ✗  

References

RCAHMS (1978) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Lanarkshire: an inventory of the prehistoric and Roman monuments. HMSO: Edinburgh

Terms of Use

The online version of the Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland should be cited as:

Lock, G. and Ralston, I. 2017.  Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland. [ONLINE] Available at: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk.

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