Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

EN1298 Knolls End Promontory Fort, Yorkshire

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

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HER:  North York Moors National Park 289 (None)

NMR:  NZ 40 SE 12 (26824)

SM:  1009359

NGR:  NZ 49593 01270

X:  449593  Y:  501270  (OSGB36)

Summary

Lying on a prominent knoll in the western extent of Live Moor, a promontory fort identified from aerial photographs by D. Smith in 1977 and confirmed during a site survey in 1978 (Moorhouse 1979). Subcircular in plan enclosing 0.8ha with a rampart 7.5m wide and 2.3m high externally and 0.5m high internally, an external ditch up to 1.5m wide and 0.6m deep and a counterscarp in the ENE and S. It is bordered by a steep scarp slope along the western edge in the W and NW. An entrance lies in the E with a maximum width of 3m narrowing to 1m at the centre. The enclosing works are now mutilated by trackways and quarrying. A further length of defensive works in the S extend for 40m to form an outwork linking the ramparts with the natural topography. Here the bank reaches a maximum of 9m wide and 2.2m high above the ditch. The ditch is 5m wide, narrowing to 0.5m at the bottom, the associated counterscarp stands 3m wide and 0.75m high. A national trail developed in the 1930's known as the Cleveland Way footpath crosses the site in the N. The site is not recorded on OS mapping. Minimal investigations, undated.

Status

Citizen Science:  ✗

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -137759  Y:  7247138  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -1.2375079118518837  Latitude:  54.40449234707455  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  England; None

Current County or Unitary Authority:  North Yorkshire

Historic County:  Yorkshire

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Whorlton; Faceby

Monument Condition

Extant with some damage. Lies within the North York Moors National Park

Condition:
Extant   ✓
Cropmark   ✗
Likely Destroyed   ✗

Land Use

Land classification of upland heathland and wet heath

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

Landscape

Hillfort Type

A promontory fort lying at 253m OD on a prominent Knoll known as Knolls End.

Type:
Contour Fort   ✗
Partial Contour Fort   ✗
Promontory Fort   ✓
Hillslope Fort   ✗
Level Terrain Fort   ✗
Marsh Fort   ✗
Multiple Enclosure Fort   ✗

Topographic Position

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

Dominant Topographic Feature:  Prominent Knoll known as Knolls End

Aspect:
North   ✗
Northeast   ✗
East   ✗
Southeast   ✗
South   ✗
Southwest   ✗
West   ✓
Northwest   ✗
Level   ✗

Altitude:  253.0m

Boundary

The parish boundary between Whorlton and Faceby cut through the enclosure

Boundary Type:  Parish/Townland


Dating Evidence

The site is undated

Reliability:  D - None

Principal Activity:
Pre 1200BC   ✗
1200BC - 800BC   ✗
800BC - 400BC   ✗
400BC - AD50   ✗
AD50 - AD400   ✗
AD400 - AD 800   ✗
Post AD800   ✗
Unknown   ✓

Other Activity:
Pre Hillfort:   None
Post Hillfort:   None

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

Identified from aerial photograph. Scheduled

Investigations:
Other (1978):   APS (OS 71/271 103-4 2-JUN-71)
Other (1995):   Scheduled

Interior Features

No internal features are known

Water Source

There are a number of springs shown on OS mapping in the area.

Source:
None   ✓
Spring   ✗
Stream   ✗
Pool   ✗
Flush   ✗
Well   ✗
Other   ✗

Surface

None

Interior Features (Surface):
No Known Features   ✓
Round Stone Structures   ✗
Rectangular Stone Structures   ✗
Curvilinear Platforms   ✗
Other Roundhouse Evidence   ✗
Pits   ✗
Quarry Hollows   ✗
Other   ✗

Excavation

None

Interior Features (Excavation):
No Known Excavation   ✓
Pits   ✗
Postholes   ✗
Roundhouses   ✗
Rectangular Structures   ✗
Roads/Tracks   ✗
Quarry Hollows   ✗
Other   ✗
Nothing Found   ✗

Geophysics

None

Interior Features (Geophysics):
No Known Geophysics   ✓
Pits   ✗
Roundhouses   ✗
Rectangular Structures   ✗
Roads/Tracks   ✗
Quarry Hollows   ✗
Other   ✗
Nothing Found   ✗

Finds

None

Interior (Finds):
No Known Finds   ✓
Pottery   ✗
Metal   ✗
Metalworking   ✗
Human Bones   ✗
Animal Bones   ✗
Lithics   ✗
Environmental   ✗
Other   ✗

Aerial

None

Interior Features (Aerial):
APs Not Checked   ✓
None   ✗
Roundhouses   ✗
Rectangular Structures   ✗
Pits   ✗
Postholes   ✗
Roads/Tracks   ✗
Other   ✗

Entrances

An entrance lies in the E with a maximum width of 3m narrowing to 1m at the centre.

Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts:  
1:   None

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   None

Guard Chambers:  ✗

Chevaux de Frise:  ✗

Entrances:
1. Simple Gap (East):   None

Enclosing Works

Sub-circular in plan with a rampart 7.5m wide and 2.3m high externally and 0.5m high internally, an external ditch up to 1.5m wide and 0.6m deep and a counterscarp in the ENE and S. It is bordered by a steep scarp slope along the western edge in the W and NW.

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.8ha.
Total:   0.8ha.

Total Footprint Area:  Noneha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   None

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✗   None

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   1
SE Quadrant:   1
SW Quadrant:   1
NW Quadrant:   None
Total:   1

Morphology

Current Morphology:
Partial Univallate   ✓
Univallate   ✗
Partial Bivallate   ✗
Bivallate   ✗
Partial Multivallate   ✗
Multivallate   ✗
Unknown   ✗

Detailed Morphology:
Partial Univallate   ✗
Univallate   ✗
Partial Bivallate   ✗
Bivallate   ✗
Partial Multivallate   ✗
Multivallate   ✗

Surface Evidence

None

Enclosing Works (Surface):
None   ✗
Earthen Bank   ✓
Stone Wall   ✗
Rubble   ✗
Wall-walk   ✗
Evidence of Timber   ✗
Vitrification   ✗
Other Burning   ✗
Palisade   ✗
Counter Scarp Bank   ✓
Berm   ✗
Unfinished   ✗
Other   ✗

Excavated Evidence

None

Enclosing Works (Excavation):
None   ✗
Earthen Bank   ✗
Stone Wall   ✗
Murus Duplex   ✗
Timber-framed   ✗
Timber-laced   ✗
Vitrification   ✗
Other Burning   ✗
Palisade   ✗
Counter Scarp Bank   ✗
Berm   ✗
Unfinished   ✗
No Known Excavation   ✓
Other   ✗

Other

Gang Working:
✗   None

Ditches:
✓   None

Number of Ditches:  1

Annex:
✗   None

References

Moorhouse, S. 1979. The Yorkshire Archaeological Register. Yorkshire Archaeol J. Vol 51, 3.



Terms of Use

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


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