Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: East Lothian Council MEL6996 (None)
NMR: NT 67 NE 141.1 (257292)
SM: 5960
NGR: NT 6779 7924
X: 367794 Y: 679248 (OSGB36)
Excavations 1987-91 in advance of the development for the swimming pool overlooking the harbour at Dunbar showed that the medieval castle stands on a headland that had not only been fortified in the early medieval period, but also earlier in the Roman or pre-Roman Iron Age. The earliest defences identified in the excavations comprise three ditches, which were probably drawn across the headland subsequently occupied by the artillery blockhouse constructed in the early 16th century on the very tip of the promontory, the inner ditch perhaps enclosing 0.17ha, and the outer possibly as much as 0.3 ha. Apart from the blockhouse and the massive ditch isolating it from the rest of the promontory, and the medieval castle standing on the seaward stack to the NE, no trace of these defences are visible on the surface, so reconstructing the full extent of this early fort, and indeed the early medieval fortifications that followed, is fraught and, while the excavators felt that they probably did not include the castle stack, this possibility cannot be excluded. Furthermore, there is no stratigraphic evidence to show whether the three early ditches are contemporary, or indeed whether they represent several periods of construction. In each case the ditches cut earlier features, and those preceding the middle ditch were sealed by a deposit from which a single radiocarbon date of AD 85-380 was obtained. Three dates spanning AD 125-495 were also returned from burnt deposits in an overlying yard, demonstrating that the middle ditch at least, and the demolished rampart that must have accompanied it, were built in the Roman Iron Age, though the inner and outer ditch may conceivably belong to an earlier period. Other evidence of enclosure during the Roman Iron Age is provided by the foundation trenches for several successive timber fences cut into the fills of both the inner and middle ditches before the area was buried beneath the yard, while yet another foundation trench for a fence or palisade on much the same line as the earlier ditches is cut through the deposits in that yard. Subsequently these successive defences and enclosures were buried beneath a deposit of soil on which a series of early medieval buildings were erected, possibly in the mid-late 6th century AD, with occupation continuing in the early 7th century. No evidence of a defensive line across the promontory at this time were found within the area excavated, but in the succeeding phase a rampart was constructed, probably replacing a palisade on the same line to cut off an area of some 0.47ha. The rampart is thought to have been built of turf on a stone foundation, and though in itself undated, the excavators suggested that the mid to late 7th century was a likely date for its construction; it may have been a relatively short-lived fortification, however. A probable entrance through the palisade facing S may have been repeated in the rampart. In subsequent periods major stone buildings stood on the promontory prior to the sack of Dunbar by Kenneth MacAlpin in the mid 9th century. During these periods occupation seems to have been bounded by a ditch, though again the precise date at which it was dug is unknown and there was no trace of a rampart on its inner lip. The ditch had been recut after it had silted up, and a Norse comb was found in the top of the later fill, which itself contained debris from mortared buildings. Again, the precise extent of this enclosure is unknown, but may have extended to some 0.56ha.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -280305 Y: 7559437 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -2.518022953595267 Latitude: 56.005128119159 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority: East Lothian
Historic County: East Lothian
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Dunbar
Partly excavated in advance of development
| 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: 15.0m
N/A
Although ten radiocarbon dates have been obtained from a range of contexts, none relate directly to any of the defences. That said the combination of dates and stratigraphically clearly shows that at least one of the early ditches dates to the Roman Iron Age. At least two periods of fortification can be identified in the early medieval period, but any chronology for their use is speculative around a handful of documentary references.
Reliability: C - Low
| Pre 1200BC | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50 | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400 | ✓ |
| AD400 - AD 800 | ✓ |
| Post AD800 | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Pre Hillfort: | None |
| Post Hillfort: | None |
| Artefactual: | A viking comb |
| C14: | Ten dates from a range of contexts |
| Other: | Documentary |
None
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1981): | Identified as the probable site of an early medieval fortification (Alcock 1981, 174-5) |
| Excavation (1987): | Initial evaluation (Perry 2000) |
| Excavation (1988): | Perry 2000 |
| Excavation (1989): | Hall and Holdsworth 1989; Perry 2000 |
| Excavation (1990): | Perry 2000 |
| Excavation (1991): | Sermon 1991; Perry 2000 |
| Other (1994): | Scheduled |
No clear structures belonging to the Roman Iron Age phases were found, but in the early medieval period a succession of rectangular timber and mortared stone buildings were erected.
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 | ✗ |
Apart from a piece of gold wire very few artefacts were recovered from the Roman Iron Age occupation, finds from phase 2-7 including a fragment of a rotary quern, a stone ball, three possible loomweights, a bone needle, two bone pins and a piece of gold wire phase. From the succeeding early medieval deposits: coper alloy pins, a fragment of worked shale, evidence of lead smelting, a few fragments of bone combs, a gilded Anglo-Saxon belt buckle, loomweights, several bone pins, several coins, several spindle whorls, a glass bangle fragment and an iron buckle.
| 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
| 1: | Only known from excavation |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (South): | Identified in the line of the early medieval palisade |
Successive evidence of ditches and ramparts cutting off this headland. The areas enclosed are speculative, but certainly increasing from the early phases of from 0.17- 0.3ha during the early medieval period
| Area 1: | 0.17ha. |
| Area 2: | 0.3haf. |
| Area 3: | 0.47ha. |
| Area 4: | 0.56ha. |
| Total: | 0.56ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✓ | None |
| ✗ | This excludes the early medieval and later defences |
| NE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SE Quadrant: | 3 |
| SW Quadrant: | 3 |
| NW Quadrant: | 0 |
| Total: | 3 |
| 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 | ✗ |
Apart from the early medieval palisade and rampart, only ditches were found
| 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 |
| ✓ | None |
Number of Ditches: 4
| ✗ | None |
Alcock, L (1981) 'Early historic fortifications in Scotland'. 150-80 (bibliography 182-201) in Guilbert, G (1981) Hill-Fort Studies: Essays for A. H. A. Hogg. Leicester University Press: Leicester
Hall and Holdsworth, D and P (1989) 'Dunbar burgh and parish, Castle Park, 16th century fortification, medieval, dark age and prehistoric occupation'. Disc Exc Scot (1989), 52
Perry, D R (2000) Castle Park, Dunbar: two thousand years on a fortified headland. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Monograph Ser, 16: Edinburgh
Sermon, R S (1991) 'Bayswell Road, Dunbar (Dunbar parish): multi-period settlement'. Disc Exc Scot (1991), 49
Atlas of Hillforts:
Wikidata:
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