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HER:  Falkirk Community Trust, Falkirk Sites and Monuments Record 381 (None)
NMR:  NS 78 SE 4 (45973)
SM:  456
NGR:  NS 7973 8476
X:  279730  Y:  684760  (OSGB36)
The remains of a small fort are situated on a steep-sided hillock to the rear of Braes. Subrectangular on plan, it measures 45m from N to S by 26m transversely (0.11ha) within what has been a formidable wall, which for the greater part of its circuit has been reduced to no more than a low mound of rubble. On the SE, however, two runs of the outer face can be seen on the slope about 3m below the crest, and in one place this still stood four courses high when the fort was surveyed by RCAHMS in 1953; a large mass of vitrified stones were also noted on the SE, between the inner wall and traces of what was identified as an outer wall following the lip of a natural terrace round the S, E and N flanks of the knoll; no trace of this outer work was found when the OS revised the 1:2500 depiction in 1974. The entrance is on the NW.
Citizen Science:  ✓
Reliability of Data:  Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed
X:  -437721  Y:  7566505  (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude:  -3.9321134239903555  Latitude:  56.040613477804  (EPSG:4326)
Country:  Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority:  Falkirk
Historic County:  Stirlingshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Dunipace
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   | ✗ |
None
| 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:  None
| North   | ✗ |
| Northeast   | ✗ |
| East   | ✗ |
| Southeast   | ✗ |
| South   | ✗ |
| Southwest   | ✗ |
| West   | ✗ |
| Northwest   | ✗ |
| Level   | ✓ |
Altitude:  120.0m
N/A
In the absence of excavation, there are neither stratified artefacts nor radiocarbon dates to provide a chronology for the defences.
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 |
Although first noted in 1792 in the Statistical Account (Stat Acct, iii, 1792, 336-7), curiously the fort does not appear on earlier editions of large scale OS maps and is first recorded in detail in 1953 during the RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands (Feachem 1963, 157) and was included in the County Inventory for Stirlingshire (RCAHMS 1963, 74-5, no.74, fig 13). Appearing on the OS 25-inch map in 1960, the survey was revised at 1:2500 in 1974. It was Scheduled in 1966 and revisited by RCAHMS about 1977.
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1792):   | Noted (Stat Acct, iii, 1792, 336-7) |
| Earthwork Survey (1953):   | Plan and description during RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands (RCAHMS 1963, 74-5, no.74, fig 13; RCAHMS STD 10/1-3) |
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1960):   | Surveyed at 1:2500 by the OS |
| Other (1966):   | Scheduled |
| Other (1974):   | Revised at 1:2500 by the OS |
| Other (1977):   | Description by RCAHMS |
| Other (2014):   | Visited by John Lumley on behalf of the Hillfort Atlas Project |
Featureless
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   | ✗ |
Obscured by trees
| APs Not Checked   | ✗ |
| None   | ✓ |
| Roundhouses   | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures   | ✗ |
| Pits   | ✗ |
| Postholes   | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks   | ✗ |
| Other   | ✗ |
See main summary
| 1:   | Large gap destroyed by felling operations on the S |
| 2:   | None |
Guard Chambers:  ✗
Chevaux de Frise:  ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (North west):   | None |
Inner wall with possible outer on three sides
| Area 1:   | 0.11ha. |
| Total:   | 0.11ha. |
Total Footprint Area:  0.22ha.
None
| ✗   | None |
| ✓   | None |
| 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 |
| ✗   | None |
Number of Ditches:  None
| ✗   | None |
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
Stat Acct (date) Statistical Account of Scotland: Drawn up from the Communications of the Ministers of the Different Parishes (Sinclair, J ed), 1791-99
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