Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC1496 Gallow Hill, Bridge of Allan, Perthshire (Knock Hill)

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

HER:  Stirling 751 (None)

NMR:  NS 79 NE 10 (45987)

SM:  6478

NGR:  NS 7825 9845

X:  278250  Y:  698450  (OSGB36)

Summary

This small fortification is situated on a rocky hillock that rises out of the saddle between Knock Hill on the SW and Gallow Hill on the N. Oval on plan, it measures 48m from N to S by 40m transversely (0.15ha) within a single rampart 4.5m in thickness by 1m in height. The entrance is on the SE, where the OS noted a hollowed track dropping down the slope. The interior is featureless. An imported Roman rotary qeurnstone was found in the enclosing plantation wall about 1958 (Stirling 1958).

Status

Citizen Science:  ✗

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -441059  Y:  7590967  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -3.9620990183926468  Latitude:  56.16316814598416  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Stirling

Historic County:  Perthshire

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Dunblane And Lecropt

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

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:  80.0m

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:   Incorporated into plantation

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

First depicted on James Stobie's map of The Counties of Perth and Clackmannan (1783), and annotated 'Camp round table', it is shown in more detail in 1863 on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Perth and Clackmannan 1866, 132.8), where it is annotated 'Supposed Roman Camp' in Roman type. It was visited by O G S Crawford in 1937, and subsequent OS visits to revise the 1:2500 depiction were carried out in 1953 and 1964. It was visited by RCAHMS in 1957, though they failed to identify any features on account of the dense undergrowth of nettles, and revisited in 1978. It was Scheduled in 1996.

Investigations:
1st Identified Map Depiction (1783):   James Stobie's map of The Counties of Perth and Clackmannan (1783)
Other (1863):   Annotated Roman Camp in Roman type on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Perth and Clackmannan 1866, 132.8)
Other (1937):   Visited by O G S Crawford
Other (1953):   Revised at 1:2500 by the OS
Other (1957):   Visited during RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands
Other (1964):   Revised at 1:2500 by the OS
Other (1978):   Description by RCAHMS
Other (1996):   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

Stray find of an Imported Roman quernstone

Interior (Finds):
No Known Finds   ✗
Pottery   ✗
Metal   ✗
Metalworking   ✗
Human Bones   ✗
Animal Bones   ✗
Lithics   ✓
Environmental   ✗
Other   ✗

Aerial

Obscured partly by trees

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:   None

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   None

Guard Chambers:  ✗

Chevaux de Frise:  ✗

Entrances:
1. Simple Gap (South east):   Hollowed track drops down the slope

Enclosing Works

Single rampart

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.15ha.
Total:   0.15ha.

Total Footprint Area:  Noneha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   None

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✓   None

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   1
SE Quadrant:   1
SW Quadrant:   1
NW Quadrant:   1
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:  None

Annex:
✗   None

References

Stirling, M (1958) 'An upper quernstone from Perthshire, near Bridge of Allan', Proc Soc Antiq Scot 91 (1957-8), 187-8



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


Document Version 1.1