Note
Date 29 July 2015 - 19 October 2016
Event ID 1044875
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Note
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1044875
This small fortification occupies a steep-sided hillock at the foot of the main mass of Black Hill SE of Cow Castle. Oval on plan, its defences comprise two elements which are probably successive, namely a stone-wall enclosing most of the summit of the hillock, and two ramparts reduced to scarps on its NW, SW and SE flanks. The inner enclosure measures internally about 32m from NE to SW by 20m transversely (0.05ha), and though its wall is largely reduced to a grass-grown stony bank 3m in thickness, occasional outer facing-stones are visible around the E half of the circuit. A broad gap on the NE probably marks the position of the entrance, opening out onto a gentle slope where cultivation has removed all trace of the outer defences. These probably belong to an earlier phase of construction, and while it is not possible to demonstrate the relationship without excavation, it is likely that the inner enclosure follows the line of an earlier rampart around most of its circuit. Only on the SW, and possibly the N, does the earlier rampart emerge from beneath it, originally enclosing an oval area measuring about 46m from NE to SW by 24m transversely (0.09ha). The outer is largely reduced to a terrace encircling the foot of the hillock, but on the N it is clear that it formed the counterscarp rampart on the outer lip of a medial ditch between them. Traces of up to four timber round-houses were noted by RCAHMS investigators within the enclosure on the summit, and presumably relate to the second phase of occupation.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 19 October 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC3234
