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HER:  Lake District National Park 1871 (None)
NMR:  NY 30 SW 1 (10287)
SM:  None
NGR:  NY 30810 01050
X:  330810  Y:  501050  (OSGB36)
Lying within woodland on a high ridge at Low Coppice, without any obvious artificial works. The interpretation as a fort has been based on the name Tillesbure which occurs in a document dated between 1157-1163. The summit of the ridge is uneven with a number of outcrops and hollows. Some of the hollows were found by excavation to be occupation floors, although the site is unlikely to have been permanently occupied. Excavations (Collingwood) in 1922 produced no dating evidence and the site could be of any period. Fieldwork by The National Trust in 1994 could not locate the site. Not recorded on OS mapping. The site is undated and could be of any period.
Citizen Science:  ✗
Reliability of Data:  Unconfirmed
Reliability of Interpretation:  Unconfirmed
X:  -341451  Y:  7246318  (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude:  -3.067303149401674  Latitude:  54.400205906114564  (EPSG:4326)
Country:  England
Current County or Unitary Authority:  Cumbria
Historic County:  Cumberland
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Coniston
Natural feature
| Extant   | ✓ |
| Cropmark   | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed   | ✓ |
The site is owned by the National Trust Ref No; 20303
| Woodland   | ✓ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation   | ✗ |
| Parkland   | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing)   | ✗ |
| Arable   | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken   | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop   | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland   | ✗ |
| Heath   | ✗ |
| Built-up   | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland   | ✗ |
| Other   | ✗ |
A possible contour fort located on the summit of a high ridge within woodland at 160m OD
| 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:  Situated on a high ridge
| North   | ✗ |
| Northeast   | ✗ |
| East   | ✗ |
| Southeast   | ✗ |
| South   | ✗ |
| Southwest   | ✗ |
| West   | ✗ |
| Northwest   | ✗ |
| Level   | ✓ |
Altitude:  160.0m
N/A
Considered to be medieval based on a 12th century documentary reference, but could be of any period
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 |
A number of small hollows were excavated in 1922 (Collingwood 1923) and found to contain a 5cm thick layer with stone flakes and charcoal inclusions overlain by dark grey sandy clay, but no dateable material. Field investigation in 1957
| Excavation (1922):   | No dating evidence recovered |
| Other (1957):   | None |
Natural hollows which excavation has shown were utilised as hut floors
Overlooks Yewdale Beck
| None   | ✓ |
| Spring   | ✗ |
| Stream   | ✗ |
| Pool   | ✗ |
| Flush   | ✗ |
| Well   | ✗ |
| Other   | ✗ |
Natural hollows
| No Known Features   | ✗ |
| Round Stone Structures   | ✗ |
| Rectangular Stone Structures   | ✗ |
| Curvilinear Platforms   | ✗ |
| Other Roundhouse Evidence   | ✗ |
| Pits   | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows   | ✗ |
| Other   | ✓ |
Natural hollows found to contain evidence of occupation
| 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   | ✗ |
Stone flakes and charcoal
| No Known Finds   | ✗ |
| Pottery   | ✗ |
| Metal   | ✗ |
| Metalworking   | ✗ |
| Human Bones   | ✗ |
| Animal Bones   | ✗ |
| Lithics   | ✗ |
| Environmental   | ✗ |
| Other   | ✓ |
Woodland
| APs Not Checked   | ✓ |
| None   | ✗ |
| Roundhouses   | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures   | ✗ |
| Pits   | ✗ |
| Postholes   | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks   | ✗ |
| Other   | ✗ |
No entrances are recorded
| 0:   | None |
| 2:   | None |
Guard Chambers:  ✗
Chevaux de Frise:  ✗
No artificial ramparts
| Area 1:   | Noneha. |
| Total:   | Noneha. |
Total Footprint Area:  Noneha.
None
| ✗   | Area not estimated |
| ✗   | None |
| NE Quadrant:   | None |
| SE Quadrant:   | None |
| SW Quadrant:   | None |
| NW Quadrant:   | None |
| Total:   | None |
| 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   | ✗ |
Interior only
| 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:  0
| ✗   | None |
Collingwood, WRCRG 1923. Trans Cumberland Westmorland Antiq Archaeol Soc 23/1923,138-41
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