Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

IR1063 Templetown, Wexford

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

HER:  Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database WX049-009 (None)

NMR:  WX 049 (None)

SM:  None

NGR:  None

X:  675357  Y:  602836  (IRENET95)

Summary

This possible coastal promontory fort is located c. 5km SW of Fethard, Co. Wexford barely projecting W from the mainland into Templetown Bay at an altitude of 17m OD. It is marked as a circular embanked enclosure on the first edition OS six-inch map (1839) and it is situated on top of sea-cliffs on the E side of the Barrow/Nore/Suir estuary. The promontory is a circular, scrub-covered area (diam. 23m NW-SE) defined by the sea cliff around the W half, and from the N round to the SSE by a curving ditch, while elsewhere on the E there is a field bank on the counterscarp. The ditch measures 4-7m in width at the top and 2-4m in depth. There is no visible bank or entrance to the fort and it is currently overgrown with scrub.

Status

Citizen Science:  ✗

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -767916  Y:  6831320  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -6.898303083563863  Latitude:  52.17219026997698  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Republic of Ireland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Wexford

Historic County:  Wexford

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Templetown

Monument Condition

None

Condition:
Extant   ✓
Cropmark   ✗
Likely Destroyed   ✗

Land Use

None

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

The promontory is situated on top of sea-cliffs (H c. 20m) on the E side of the Barrow/Nore/Suir estuary. Described as a circular scrub-covered area (diam. 23m NW-SE) defined by the sea cliff WSW-W-NE and a ditch. It is overlooked by higher ground to the E and S.

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:  It is overlooked by higher ground to the E and S.

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

Altitude:  17.0m

Boundary

N/A


Dating Evidence

There is no dating available for the site

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

Marked as a circular embanked enclosure on the 1839 ed. of the OS six-inch map. The site was later visited for the compilation of the Wexford Archaeological Inventory (Moore 1996).

Investigations:
1st Identified Map Depiction (1839):   First edition OS six-inch mapping
Earthwork Survey (1989):   Moore

Interior Features

There are no recorded internal features.

Water Source

None

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

NO APPARENT FEATURES

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

Entrances

There is no visible bank or entrance to the fort

Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts:  
0:   None

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   None

Guard Chambers:  ✗

Chevaux de Frise:  ✗

Entrances:No related records

Enclosing Works

Defined by the sea cliff around the W half and a ditch from the N round to the SSE (at N: Wth of top 4m; int. D 2m; ext. D 1.2m; at SSE: Wth of top 7m; int. D 0.2m; ext. D 0.4m). There is no recorded bank.

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.1ha.
Total:   0.1ha.

Total Footprint Area:  0.21ha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   None

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✗   None

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   1
SE Quadrant:   1
SW Quadrant:   0
NW Quadrant:   0
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

Moore, M. 1996. Archaeological inventory of County Wexford, 26. The stationary Office, Dublin.



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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