Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC1583 Gallamuir, Stirlingshire

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

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HER:  Stirling 1103 (None)

NMR:  NS 88 NW 3 (46889)

SM:  None

NGR:  NS 8453 8774

X:  284530  Y:  687740  (OSGB36)

Summary

Situated on a terrace that drops away along its SW margin into a shallow gully, cropmarks have revealed an oval fort measuring about 90m from NW to SE by 70m transversely (0.5ha) within twin ditches 3-4m in breadth and set about 6m apart; allowing 5m for the internal rampart, the interior extends to at least 0.3ha. Several maculae visible in the interior may indicate the positions of structures, but the position of the entrance is not known, neither of the gaps observed in the cropmarks on the ground by RCAHMS investigators in 1951 appear on more recent aerial photographs.

Status

Citizen Science:  ✗

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -429292  Y:  7572075  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -3.8563968810926297  Latitude:  56.068556097222576  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Stirling

Historic County:  Stirlingshire

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  St Ninians

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:  35.0m

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:   Ploughed flat

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

First identified from vertical aerial photographs in 1951 during the RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands, the footprint of the ditches was visible on the ground under stubble. It was subsequently included in the County Inventory for Stirlingshire under the heading of Miscellaneous Earthworks and Enclosures (RCAHMS 1963, 420, no.495, fig 177), and has been photographed by the RCAHMS Aerial Survey Programme in 1999 and 2005. The OS detected traces of ploughed down scarps marking parts of the perimeter when they surveyed the site at 1:2500 in 1974.

Investigations:
Earthwork Survey (1951):   Plan and description during RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands (RCAHMS 1963, 420, no.495, fig 177; RCAHMS STD 24/1-2)
1st Identified Map Depiction (1974):   Surveyed at 1:2500 by the OS
Other (1999):   Photographed by RCAHMS Aerial Survey Programme
Other (2005):   Photographed by RCAHMS Aerial Survey Programme

Interior Features

Three maculae, one of which is apparently a small ring ditch 6m in overall diameter

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

Maculae in the interior

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

Entrances

None known

Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts:  
0:   Ploughed flat

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   No certain gaps in the perimeter

Guard Chambers:  ✗

Chevaux de Frise:  ✗

Entrances:No related records

Enclosing Works

Twin ditches

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.3ha.
Total:   0.3ha.

Total Footprint Area:  0.75ha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   None

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✓   None

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   2
SE Quadrant:   2
SW Quadrant:   2
NW Quadrant:   2
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:  2

Annex:
✗   None

References

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