LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
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HER: City of Edinburgh No record found (None)
NMR: NT 27 SW 34 (52658)
SM: 3193
NGR: NT 2282 7006
X: 322820 Y: 670060 (OSGB36)
This small fortification crowns the summit of Wester Craiglockart Hill. Unfortunately the whole site has been heavily disrupted and obscured by the construction of three gun emplacements on the summit, but it appears to comprise two elements, namely a small D-shaped enclosure measuring no more than 22m from E to W by 13m transversely within a wall 2.5m in thickness and an outlying rock-cut ditch blocking access to the summit from the W. Attention was first drawn to the site by the discovery in 1916 of a spiral armlet, and the subsequent recovery of a small bronze finger-ring, a fragment of shale bracelet, pottery and domestic debris (Macgregor 1976, no.222). The rock-cut ditch was also recognised at this time (RCAHMS 1929, xxvii-xxviii), but a plan was not prepared until 1970, when Gordon Maxwell also carried out a minor excavation (1970), in the following year sectioning the wall (1971). This revealed two phases in which paving and a hearth were laid down on top of earlier demolition debris and led to the recovery of a relatively large assemblage of coarse pottery, two fragments of Roman glass, a small sherd of samian ware, and a bead of Antrim bauxite.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Unconfirmed
X: -360281 Y: 7542001 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -3.2364560674200282 Latitude: 55.91745705678809 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority: City of Edinburgh
Historic County: Midlothian
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Edinburgh
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: 175.0m
N/A
There are neither stratified artefacts nor radiocarbon dates to provide a chronology for the defences, though there is evidently occupation dating from the 1st or 2nd centuries AD.
Reliability: D - None
| Pre 1200BC | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50 | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400 | ✓ |
| AD400 - AD 800 | ✗ |
| Post AD800 | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✓ |
| Pre Hillfort: | None |
| Post Hillfort: | None |
| Artefactual: | Roman glass fragments |
None
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1916): | Discovery of a spiral armlet and the identification of the ditch (Proc Soc Antiq Scot 51, 1916-17, 10, fig1); the rock-cut ditch was also observed (RCAHMS 1929, xxvii-xxviii) |
| Earthwork Survey (1970): | Plan and description (RCAHMS EDD 733/1-2) |
| Excavation (1970): | Minor evaluation to assist the planning (Maxwell 1970) |
| Excavation (1971): | Minor evaluation to assist the planning (Maxwell 1971) |
| Other (1972): | Scheduled |
| Other (1974): | Visited by the OS |
| Other (2001): | Re-Scheduled |
Overlain by the gun emplacements
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 | ✗ |
None
| 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 | ✗ |
None
| 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
| 0: | None |
| 2: | Possibly on the E according to the Scheduling document |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
Single wall with an outlying rock-cut ditch on one side; the interior of the dun-like structure is tiny, but it is possible part of a large site represented by the outlying rock-cut ditch
| Area 1: | Noneha. |
| Total: | Noneha. |
Total Footprint Area: 0.12ha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✓ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 1 |
| SE Quadrant: | 1 |
| 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 |
| ✓ | Outlying ditch |
Number of Ditches: 1
| ✗ | None |
Macgregor, M (1976) Early Celtic art in north Britain: a study of decorative metalwork from the third century B.C. to the third century A.D. (2v). Leicester University Press: Leicester
Maxwell, G S (1970) 'Wester Craiglockhart Hill, fort'. Disc Exc Scot (1970), 32
Maxwell, G S (1971) 'Edinburgh, Wester Craiglockhart Hill, fort'. Disc Exc Scot (1971, 28-9
Proc Soc Antiq Scot (1917) 'Donations to and purchases for the Museum and Library'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 51 (1916-17), 10, fig 1
Proc Soc Antiq Scot (1918) 'Donations to and purchases for the Museum and Library'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 52 (1917-18), 150, 172
RCAHMS (1929) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions of Scotland. Tenth report with Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in the Counties of Midlothian and West Lothian. HMSO: Edinburgh
Atlas of Hillforts:
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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