Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database WA026-041001 (None)
NMR: WA 026 (None)
SM: None
NGR: None
X: 655805 Y: 598345 (IRENET95)
This coastal promontory is located c. 2km SW of Tramore town in Co. Waterford. Marked as an ÇEntrenchment' on the first edition (1841) 6-inch map (known locally as ÇPort'), the promontory can be described as an irregular grass- and heather-grown area (60-90m N-S by 72-110m E-W) that projects S from the mainland into the Atlantic at an altitude of 14m OD. The headland is cut off at the N end by an earthen bank that runs in an E-W direction for approximately 72m. It measures 11m in width and 2.1m high internally. An external, flat-bottomed ditch measures 3.8m in width at the base with a depth of 1.6m. The interior of the site is accessed through a central gap in the bank (2.75m Wth) and an external causeway over the ditch. Westropp notes that the 6-inch map shows an Çoval mound or hut-site, in the garth, near the west end, but this seems obliterated' (1914, 211). He also observed that from the Çlightness of the soil and the comparative preservation, I cannot regard the work in its present condition as very ancient'. There are no other recorded internal features.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -799814 Y: 6824418 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -7.184848250746106 Latitude: 52.13414880002106 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Republic of Ireland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Waterford
Historic County: Waterford
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: West-town
None
| 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 | ✗ |
This promontory can be described as an irregular grass and heather-grown area measuring 60-90m N-S by 72-110m E-W that projects S from the mainland into the Atlantic at an altitude of 14m OD. The headland is cut off at the N end by an earthen bank that runs in an E-W direction for approximately 72m and an external ditch.
| 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: S-facing promontory
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✓ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✗ |
Altitude: 14.0m
N/A
There is no dating available for the site
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 |
Marked as an ÇEntrenchment' on the first edition (1841) 6-inch map. Inspected by Westropp in 1906 who describes 'fosse and bank, nearly straight, and about 200 feet long'. He also describes 'an oval hut-site in the enclosure, but it seems to have disappeared' (1906, 256). Site was inspected and surveyed for the compilation of the Archaeological Inventory of County Waterford (Moore 1999).
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1841): | OS six-inch mapping |
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1906): | Westropp |
| Earthwork Survey (1989): | Moore |
Westropp notes that the 6-inch map shows an Çoval mound or hut-site, in the garth, near the west end' but this was no longer evident when he inspected the site in 1906 and 1914.
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 | ✗ |
NO APPARENT FEATURES
| APs Not Checked | ✗ |
| None | ✓ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
The interior of the site is accessed through a central gap in the bank (2.75m Wth) and an external causeway over the ditch. It cannot be confirmed whether this is an original entrance.
| 1: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (North): | None |
The headland is cut off at the N end by an earthen bank (Wth 11m; int. H 2.1m; ext. H 4m) that runs in an E-W direction for approximately 72m. An external, flat-bottomed ditch measures 3.8m in width at the base with a depth of 1.6m.
| Area 1: | 0.71ha. |
| Total: | 0.71ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 0.97ha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 1 |
| SE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SW Quadrant: | 0 |
| NW Quadrant: | 10 |
| Total: | 10 |
| 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 |
| ✓ | An external, flat-bottomed ditch measures 3.8m in width at the base with a depth of 1.6m |
Number of Ditches: 1
| ✗ | None |
Moore, M. 1999. Archaeological inventory of County Waterford, 64-8. The stationary Office, Dublin.
Westropp, T. J. 1906. Notes on certain Promontory Forts in the counties of Waterford and Wexford. The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 36 (3), 239-25.
Westropp, T.J. 1914-16 Fortified headlands and castles on the south coast of Munster: Part II, from Ardmore to Dunmore, Co. Waterford. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 32C, 188-227
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