Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Isle of Man 1066 (None)
NMR: SC28 SW 1 (30473)
SM: None
NGR: SC 242 846
X: 224200 Y: 484650 (OSGB36)
Possible coastal promontory fort located on prominent sandstone NW-facing headland of St Patrick's Isle on S shore of estuary of the River Neb on W coast of island. Coastal rocks to N, E (road) and W, level landward along road to S. Site of the 15th century and later Peel Castle ruins, overlying any potential fort. Initial excavations 1982-83, followed by five years of further excavation, with support of the St Patrick's Isle Archaeological Trust, formed in 1983, by P.S. Gelling on the Half-Moon Battery, and D. Freke on the Earl of Derby's apartments. These revealed complex sequence of early medieval, Viking, medieval and post-medieval archaeology, with Iron Age occupation. Mesolithic flints were found by Gelling.The nature of this remains uncertain, but presumably involved a rampart cutting off the promontory. A late Viking rampart was found. Earlier excavations on the castle 1929 and 1947 by C.H. Cowley and G. Bersu Peel. Castle on 1st Ed. OS map (1869).
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Unconfirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Unconfirmed
X: -523029 Y: 7213325 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -4.698445185769795 Latitude: 54.22731636074074 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Isle of Man
Current County or Unitary Authority: Glenfaba
Historic County: Glenfaba
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Peel
Destroyed - underneath early medieval to post medieval deposits/structures.
| Extant | ✗ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✓ |
Site of 15th century and later castle.
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✗ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✓ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✓ |
Possible coastal promontory fort located on prominent sandstone NW-facing headland of St Patrick's Isle on S shore of estuary of the River Neb on W coast of island. Coastal rocks to N, E (road) and W, level landward along road to S.
| 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: Coastal headland
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✓ |
Altitude: 15.0m
N/A
None.
Reliability: D - None
| Pre 1200BC | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50 | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400 | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800 | ✗ |
| Post AD800 | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✓ |
| Pre Hillfort: | Mesolithic flints found in Half-Moon battery excavations. |
| Post Hillfort: | Viking to post medieval structures including 15th century and later Peel Castle. |
Peel Castle on 1st Ed. OS map (1869). Excavations on the castle 1929 and 1947 by C.H. Cowley and G. Bersu.Excavations D. Freke 1982-88 found evidence of Iron Age occupation.
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1869): | OS map. |
| Excavation (1929): | Castle excavation C.H. Cowley. |
| Excavation (1947): | Castle excavation G. Bersu. |
| Other (2015): | Visited by Hillfort Study Group |
| Excavation (None): | D. Freke. |
None.
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 | ✗ |
None
| APs Not Checked | ✓ |
| None | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
No evidence.
| 0: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
No evidence.
| Area 1: | Noneha. |
| Total: | Noneha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✗ | No area defined. |
| ✗ | No evidence |
| 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 | ✗ |
Site destroyed and overlain.
| None | ✓ |
| Earthen Bank | ✗ |
| Stone Wall | ✗ |
| Rubble | ✗ |
| Wall-walk | ✗ |
| Evidence of Timber | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✗ |
| Berm | ✗ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
No evidence of rampart.
| 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 |
| ✗ | No evidence |
Number of Ditches: 0
| ✗ | None |
Chiverrell, R. and Thomas, G. (eds) 2006. A new history of the Isle of Man, Vol I, The evolution of the natural landscape, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
Cowley, C.H. 1935-37. Excavations of Peel Castle 1929, Proc IOM Nat Hist Antiq Soc, 4, 2, 165-74.
Freke, D. 2002. Excavations on St Patrick's Isle Peel, Isle of Man, 1982-88, prehistoric, medieval and later, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
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