SC1631: Bodsberry Hill |
Sources: Esri, DigitalGlobe, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, GeoEye, USDA FSA, USGS, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, and the GIS User Community
HER: The West of Scotland Archaeology Service 10374
NMR: NS 91 NE 1 (47288)
SM: 2605
NGR: NS 9637 1686
X: 296370 Y: 616860 (EPSG:27700)
Boundary: ✗
This fort is situated on the summit of Bodsberry Hill, which rises steeply from the E bank of the River Clyde to the SE of Elvanfoot. Tailored to the topography, it forms an irregular plan, measuring up to 105m from NW to SE by 76m transversely (0.65ha) within a stone rampart largely reduced to a scarp in which occasional outer facing-stones are visible. Additional protection is provided by an outer rampart, which though only visible on the NW and SE, peters out onto natural breaks of slope that extend around the rest of the circuit; on the N, where the rampart forms a bank 3.4m in thickness, it is accompanied by an internal quarry ditch, but elsewhere its line is marked by little more than a low scarp. There are four entrances, on the NW, NE, SE and SW respectively, the first still retaining facing-stones on the NE side of the passage. A depression partly encircled by a bank in the W quadrant of the interior was shown by excavation before 1864 to be a well or cistern (Irving and Murray 1864, vol 1, 9), and while no other structures were depicted when surveyed by RCAHMS in 1959, the investigators were aware of possible traces of timber round-houses (Feachem 1963, 134-5), and several have been revealed by subsequent aerial photography taken under snow in 1980.
| Citizen Science: | ✗ |
| Reliability of Data: | Confirmed |
| Reliability of Interpretation: | Confirmed |
X: -405134 Y: 7446686 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -3.639378 Latitude: 55.434661 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority: South Lanarkshire
Historic County: Lanarkshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Crawford
| Extant: | ✓ |
| Cropmark: | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed: | ✗ |
Generous clearing in Forestry
| Woodland: | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation: | ✗ |
| Parkland: | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing): | ✗ |
| Arable: | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken: | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop: | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland: | ✓ |
| Heath: | ✗ |
| Built-up: | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
| 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: ✗
| North: | ✗ |
| Northeast: | ✗ |
| East: | ✗ |
| Southeast: | ✗ |
| South: | ✗ |
| Southwest: | ✗ |
| West: | ✗ |
| Northwest: | ✗ |
| Level: | ✓ |
Altitude: 400.0m
| Boundary Type: | ✗ |
Second HER: ✗
Second Current County or Unitary Authority: ✗
Second Historic County: ✗
Second Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: ✗
In the absence of modern 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: | ✗ |
| Post Hillfort Activity: | ✗ |
| None: | No details. |
Named on Charles Ross's A Map of the Shire of Lanark (1773), and appearing on other county maps thereafter, it is noted in 1835 in the New Statistical Account (NSA 6, Lanarkshire, 331). The fort was depicted in more detail in 1859 on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Lanarkshire 1864, sheet 47.14), including the well in the interior, and in 1864 the excavation of the well in the interior was reported (Irving and Murray 1864, i, 9). It was visited and sketch-planned by David Christison in 1889 (Christison 1890, 295-7). It was first photographed from the air by Wing-Commander Insall in 1930, and subsequently by RCAHMS in 1980 and 1991. The site was surveyed by RCAHMS in 1959 and revisited in 1975 (RCAHMS 1978, 94-5, no.218, fig 49). It was visited by the OS in 1959 and Scheduled in 1967.
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1773): | Charles Ross, A Map of the Shire of Lanark (1773) |
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1835): | Noted (NSA 6, Lanarkshire, 331) |
| Excavation (1864): | Of the well (Irving and Murray 1864, i, 9 plan) |
| Earthwork Survey (1864): | Description by George Irving (Irving and Murray 1864, i, 9 plan) |
| Earthwork Survey (1889): | Sketch-plan and description by David Christison (1890, 295-7) |
| Earthwork Survey (1959): | Plan and description during RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands (RCAHMS LAD/129/1-2) |
| Other (1959): | Visited by the OS |
| Other (1967): | Scheduled |
| Earthwork Survey (1975): | Earlier plan and description reviewed (RCAHMS 1978, 94-5, no.218, fig 49) |
Traces of several round-houses on aerial photographs
| None: | ✗ |
| Spring: | ✗ |
| Stream: | ✗ |
| Pool: | ✗ |
| Flush: | ✗ |
| Well: | ✓ |
| Other: | ✗ |
Possible ring-grooves
| No Known Features: | ✗ |
| Round Stone Structures: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Stone Structures: | ✗ |
| Curvilinear Platforms: | ✗ |
| Other Roundhouse Evidence: | ✓ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
Well
| No Known Excavation: | ✗ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Postholes: | ✗ |
| Roundhouses: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures: | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks: | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✓ |
| Nothing Found: | ✗ |
| No Known Geophysics: | ✓ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Roundhouses: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures: | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks: | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
| Nothing Found: | ✗ |
| 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
| Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts: | 4 |
| Number of Possible Original Entrances: | 4: | In their decayed states they give what is probably a misleading impression of very shallow inturns |
Guard Chambers: ✗
| Chevaux de Frise: | ✗ |
| Entrance 1 (Northeast): | Simple Gap | |
| Entrance 2 (Southeast): | Simple Gap | |
| Entrance 3 (Southwest): | Simple Gap | |
| Entrance 4 (Northwest): | Simple Gap |
Continuous inner rampart with outer visible in two sectors
| Enclosed Area 1: | 0.65ha. |
| Enclosed Area 2: | ✗ |
| Enclosed Area 3: | ✗ |
| Enclosed Area 4: | ✗ |
| Total Enclosed Area: | 0.6ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 1.1ha.
| Multi-period Enclosure System: | ✗ |
| Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit: | ✓ |
| Number of Ramparts: | 2 |
| Number of Ramparts NE Quadrant: | 1 |
| Number of Ramparts SE Quadrant: | 2 |
| Number of Ramparts SW Quadrant: | 1 |
| Number of Ramparts NW Quadrant: | 2 |
| Partial Univallate: | ✓ |
| Univallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate: | ✓ |
| Bivallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate: | ✗ |
| Multivallate: | ✗ |
| Unknown: | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate: | ✗ |
| Univallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate: | ✗ |
| Bivallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate: | ✗ |
| Multivallate: | ✗ |
| None: | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank: | ✗ |
| Stone Wall: | ✓ |
| Rubble: | ✗ |
| Wall-walk: | ✗ |
| Evidence of Timber: | ✗ |
| Vitrification: | ✗ |
| Other Burning: | ✗ |
| Palisade: | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank: | ✗ |
| Berm: | ✗ |
| Unfinished: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
The well within the interior
| 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: | ✗ |
Ditches: ✓
| Number of Ditches: | 1: | Internal quarry to the outer rampart on the N |
| Annex: | ✗ |
Feachem, R (1963) A guide to prehistoric Scotland. Batsford: London
Irving and Murray, G V and A (1864) The upper ward of Lanarkshire described and delineated, 3v Glasgow
NSA (1834-1845) The new statistical account of Scotland by the ministers of the respective parishes under the superintendence of a committee of the society for the benefit of the sons and daughters of the clergy.
RCAHMS (1978) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Lanarkshire: an inventory of the prehistoric and Roman monuments. HMSO: Edinburgh
Atlas of Hillforts: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk/?query=Atlas_of_Hillforts_4166_0%2CMain_Atlas_Number%2C1631
Wikidata: http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q31104309
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.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.