Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database WI027-018 (None)
NMR: WI 027 (None)
SM: None
NGR: None
X: 692948 Y: 691138 (IRENET95)
Multiple enclosure surrounding the SE flat-topped summit of Spinans Hill at SW edge of Wicklow mountains, with panoramic views. Brusselstown Ring is one of nine hillforts comprising the Baltinglass hillfort cluster. It has a total footprint of 32.43ha making it one of the largest hillforts in Ireland. The inner enclosing elements forms a complete circuit. The outer has been damaged at the SW but likely formed a complete circuit. The are four possible original entrances comprising simple breaks in the inner bank at the N, E, S and W. There are no apparent entrance features in the outer enclosing elements. Two structures have been recorded within the inner enclosure. Twenty three structures immediately outside the inner enclosing feature have also been identified (Grogan and Kilfeather 1997, 41). Internal enclosing elements survives almost intact. The outer has been damaged at SW and is covered by grass and heather for much of its circuit. Interior under grassland. Earliest identified map depiction in first edition Ordnance Survey 6 inch mapping. Monument survey by Condit (1992). Monument survey by Grogan and Kilfeather (1996, 25). Aerial photographs by the Cambridge aerial survey unit and GSI.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -736540 Y: 6976148 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -6.61645000396018 Latitude: 52.96294979715903 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Republic of Ireland; None
Current County or Unitary Authority: Wicklow
Historic County: Wicklow
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Brusselstown
Outer enclosing element at the S and SE has been destroyed.
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✓ |
Woodland abutting the outer enclosing elements at the N, NE and W and partially under woodland at NW. Interior heavily overgrown with scrub and bracken. The interior of Brusselstown Ring is characterized by large rock outcrops. The largest of these is located at the center of the monument and forms a substantial plateau overlooking the majority of the interior.
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✓ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✗ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✓ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Surrounding the SE flat topped summit of Spinans Hill at SW edge of Wicklow mountains, with panoramic views. The outer enclosing elements of this large multiple enclosure is incorporated into the larger Spinans Hill 2 (Atlas No.0727) contour fort. Brusselstown Ring is one of nine hillforts comprising the Baltinglass hillfort cluster.
| 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: Flat topped summit.
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✓ |
Altitude: 402.0m
S section of the enclosing elements form the boundary between Brusselstown and Castlequater townlands.
Boundary Type: Parish/Townland
No dating evidence.
Reliability: D - None
| Pre 1200BC | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50 | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400 | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800 | ✗ |
| Post AD800 | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✓ |
| Pre Hillfort: | Stone axe found on Spinans Hill indicating Neolithic activity on the hill, however, it is unknown if this was discovered within the hillfort (Condit 1992 20). |
| Post Hillfort: | None |
Earliest identified map depiction in first edition Ordnance Survey 6 inch mapping, where only the inner enclosing elements were depicted. Alos depicted in second edition Ordnance Survey maps. Monument survey by Condit in 1992 and 1998. Monument survey by Grogan and Kilfeather (1996, 25).
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1842): | First edition Ordnance Survey 6 inch mapping. |
| Other (1906): | Second edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch mapping. |
| Other (1992): | Monument survey by Condit. |
| Other (1997): | Monument survey by Grogan and kilfeather. |
| Other (1998): | Monument survey by Condit. |
| Other (None): | Cambridge aerial photographs |
| Other (None): | GSI aerial photographs. |
There are two recorded hut structures within the interior of the hillfort (Grogan and Kilfeather 1997, 41). Twenty three hut structures have been recorded immediately outside of the inner enclosing elements at the S. A settlement cluster is recorded abutting the NW section of the outer enclosing elements.
None
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Round stone structures and circular platforms cut into the hillslope recorded immediately outside the inner enclosing elements at the S.
| 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 | ✗ |
A possible stone axe was found on Spinans Hill, although more specific information regarding its location is unknown (Condit 1992 20).
| 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 | ✗ |
Four possible original entrance features at the N, E, S and W of the inner enclosing elements. These comprise simple breaks in the stone bank approximately 1 - 2 m in width.
| 4: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (North): | None |
| 2. Simple Gap (East): | None |
| 3. Simple Gap (South): | None |
| 4. Simple Gap (West): | None |
Bivallate multiple enclosure with widely spaced enclosing elements separated by an average of 294m. Inner enclosing elements surround the somewhat flat SE summit of Spinans Hill and closely follow the natural contours, creating its oval shape. The inner enclosure comprises a stone rubble bank of varying width (maximum 11.7, minimum 5.3m). A modern wall was built on the inner face. The outer bank does not follow the contours of the hill. It comprises a less substantial rubble stone bank. The eastern and south-eastern section of this is incorporated into modern field systems and is likely to have been altered as a result. The outer enclosing element is best preserved to the north where the rubble stone bank is on average 10.2m in width and more comparable to the inner enclosing element.
| Area 1: | 4.63ha. |
| Area 2: | 32.43ha. |
| Total: | 32.43ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 32.43ha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✓ | The enclosing elements are likely to have formed complete circuits. |
| NE Quadrant: | 2 |
| SE Quadrant: | 2 |
| SW Quadrant: | 1 |
| NW Quadrant: | 2 |
| Total: | 2 |
| 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 |
| ✗ | No obvious ditch features. |
Number of Ditches: 0
| ✗ | None. |
Condit, T. 1992. Ireland's hillfort capital: Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow. Archaeology Ireland, 16 - 20.
Condit, T. 1998. Observations of the Baltinglass hillfort complex. Wicklow: Archaeology and History, 9-25.
Corlett, C. and Weaver, M. 2002a. The Liam Price Notebooks: the Placenames, Antiquities and Topography of County Wicklow, I. Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Dublin.
Corlett, C. and Weaver, M. 2002a. The Liam Price Notebooks: the Placenames, Antiquities and Topography of County Wicklow, II. Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Dublin.
Grogan, E. and Kilfeather, A. 1997. Archaeological Inventory of County Wicklow. The Stationary Office, Dublin.
Raftery, B. 1994. Pagan Celtic Ireland. Thames and Hudson, London.
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
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