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Note
Date 19 July 2014 - 16 November 2016
Event ID 1044747
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Note
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1044747
This fort was situated on Carwinning Hill, a steep-side spur above Swinlees which has been progressively eaten away by quarrying operations, so much so, that no trace of the fort now remains. In all three lines of defence have been recorded, but these were severely reduced by stone robbing in the early 19th century. By the time the OS surveyors drew up the 1st edition 25-inch map (Ayrshire 1858, sheet 7.11) the ramparts were mainly visible on the NW, though later surveyors in 1983 traced the remains of two ramparts set about 20m apart extending around the W and S and enclosing an area some 70m in diameter (0.38ha). Excavations in 1977-78 (Cowie 1977; 1978) showed that an outer enclosure line was no more than an old field-dyke. Within the interior of the fort there was also a smaller enclosure measuring about 32m by 27m (0.07ha) within a stony bank. On excavation the latter proved to be the remains of a wall, which on the summit overlay a Bronze Age burial cairn with a kerb; a collared urn, a bronze chisel and half a stone battle-axe re-used as a hammer were found in the cairn. An entrance lined with posts was associated with this enclosure, and within the interior, though not necessarily contemporary with it, there were stone-packed post-holes belonging to at least one round-house. Evidence of a palisade was also recovered.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 16 November 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC1243
