Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC1492 Myot Hill, Stirlingshire

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

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HER:  Falkirk Community Trust, Falkirk Sites and Monuments Record 391 (None)

NMR:  NS 78 SE 1 (45957)

SM:  2381

NGR:  NS 7808 8250

X:  278080  Y:  682500  (OSGB36)

Summary

The scant remains of a fort are situated on Myot Hill a steep-sided summit W of Denny that is now crowned by telecommunication masts. There are no more than traces of defences around the N, W and S margins of the hill, but on the E two heavily robbed ramparts can be seen, creating an enclosure measuring about 65m from E to W by 42m transversely (0.18ha) on the summit. The entrance is probably on the ESE.

Status

Citizen Science:  ✓

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -440553  Y:  7562379  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -3.957553890703045  Latitude:  56.01990223824139  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Falkirk

Historic County:  Stirlingshire

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Denny

Monument Condition

None

Condition:
Extant   ✓
Cropmark   ✗
Likely Destroyed   ✗

Land Use

Site of radio-communication mast and also quarried round the southern margin of the hill.

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

None

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:  None

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

Altitude:  212.0m

Boundary

N/A


Dating Evidence

In the absence of excavation, there are neither stratified artefacts nor radiocarbon dates to provide a chronology for the defences.

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:   Heavily robbed and now the site of a telecommunications mast

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

Attention to the hill was first drawn by W J Watson, who identified its correlated its placename with the ancient tribal grouping of the Maeatae (Watson 1926, 59). The fort was first surveyed in 1953 during the RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands (Feachem 1963, 157-8), it was included in the County Inventory for Stirlingshire (RCAHMS 1963, 75, no.75, fig 14). It was surveyed for the OS 1:2500 map in 1959 and revised in 1974. It was Scheduled in 1964 and re-Scheduled in 1993. RCAHMS revisited in 1977.

Investigations:
Earthwork Survey (1953):   Plan and description during RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands (RCAHMS 1963, 75, no.75, fig 14; Feachem 1963, 157-8; RCAHMS STD 36/1-3)
1st Identified Map Depiction (1959):   Surveyed at 1:2500 by the OS
Other (1964):   Scheduled
Other (1974):   Revised at 1:2500 by the OS
Other (1977):   Visited by RCAHMS
Other (1993):   Scheduled

Interior Features

Featureless

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

See main summary

Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts:  
1:   Heavily degraded all round the circuit

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   None

Guard Chambers:  ✗

Chevaux de Frise:  ✗

Entrances:
1. Simple Gap (South east):   None

Enclosing Works

Twin ramparts on the E and traces of the inner elsewhere

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.18ha.
Total:   0.18ha.

Total Footprint Area:  Noneha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   None

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✗   None

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   2
SE Quadrant:   2
SW Quadrant:   1
NW Quadrant:   0
Total:   2

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:  None

Annex:
✗   None

References

Feachem, R W (1963) Guide to Prehistoric Scotland. Batsford: Edinburgh

RCAHMS (1963) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Stirlingshire: an inventory of the ancient monuments, 2v. HMSO: Edinburgh

Watson, W J (1926) The history of the Celtic place-names of Scotland: being the Rhind lectures on archaeology (expanded) delivered in 1916. Edinburgh



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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