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Burnswark Hill

Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland · Atlas SC0890

Burnswark Hill is a contour fort in Hoddom, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland.

Other names on the record: Birrenswark.

It is recorded as extant, with a partial univallate and partial bivallate rampart form, surface evidence of earthen bank, and an enclosed area of 7 hectares.

Banks or ramparts are the remains most likely to be visible.

The topographic record places it on a hilltop and at 275 m.

The aspect is recorded as level.

Recorded land use includes pasture and heather moorland.

Dating evidence is recorded for 800–400 BC and AD 50–400 (Artefactual and C14). Reliability is recorded as C - Low.

A scheduled monument number is recorded (667).

Location

Atlas number
SC0890 (890)
Country
Scotland
Current county or unitary authority
Dumfries & Galloway
Historic county
Dumfriesshire
Parish, community, or townland
Hoddom
National Grid reference
NY 1860 7870
Latitude
55.09605
Longitude
-3.27711
Altitude
275 m

Form and condition

Type
contour fort
Condition
Extant
Morphology
partial univallate and partial bivallate
Complete rampart circuit
Yes
Number of ramparts
2
Ramparts by quadrant
NE 1, SE 2, SW 1, NW 1
Possible original entrances
4
Breaks through the ramparts
5
Enclosed area
7 ha
Enclosing works, as visible
earthen bank
Enclosing works, excavated
stone wall, timber-framed wall, and palisade
Also recorded
multi-period enclosure system
Entrance forms
Passage-way/Corridor (South east); Hollow Way (South east); Simple Gap (North west)

Landscape

Topographic position
hilltop
Aspect
level
Land use
pasture and heather moorland

Dating

Dating
800–400 BC and AD 50–400
Dating evidence
Artefactual and C14
Dating reliability
C - Low

Interior and investigation

Interior surface
curvilinear platforms
Interior excavation
roundhouses
Finds
pottery, metal, and lithics
Investigations
1st Identified Written Reference (1726); 1st Identified Map Depiction (1755); Earthwork Survey (1793); Other (1857); Excavation (1898); Other (1898); Other (1915); Other (1961); Excavation (1966); Other (1966); Excavation (1967); Excavation (1968); Earthw

Identifiers

Scheduled monument number
667
HER
Dumfries & Galloway MDG6986
National record
record NY 17 NE 2; monument 66626
Wikidata
Q31060367

Sources

References

  1. Barbour, J, Christison, D & Anderson, J (1899) 'Account of the excavation of the camps and earthworks at Birrenswark Hill in Annandale, undertaken by the Society in 1898', Proc Soc Antiq Scot 33 (1898-9), 198-249 Feachem, R (1963) A guide to prehistoric Scotland. Batsford: London (p 116)
  2. Gordon, A (1726) Itinerarium septentrionale: or a journey thro' most of the counties of Scotland and those in the north of England, London
  3. Jobey, G (1973) 'A military redoubt on Burnswark Hill, Dumfriesshire'. Trans Dumfriesshire Galloway Natur Hist Antiq Soc, 3 ser, 50 (1973), 72-81
  4. Jobey, G (1978) 'Burnswark Hill, Dumfriesshire', Trans Dumfriesshire Galloway Natur Hist Antiq Soc, 3 ser, 53 (1978), 57-104
  5. RCAHMS (1920) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Seventh Report with Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in the County of Dumfries, Edinburgh
  6. Reid, J. 2016. Bullets, ballistas and Burnswark. A Roman assault on a hillfort in Scotland. Current Archaeol, 316, 20-26.
  7. Roy, W (1793) The Military Antiquities of the Romans in Britain, London