Note

Date 8 September 2015 - 19 October 2016

Event ID 1045259

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Note

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1045259

Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

The summit of Woden law is crowned by a complex of earthworks, at the core of which is a large Iron Age fort. Oval on plan, it measures about 120m from NNE to SSW by 45m transversely (0.45ha) within a belt of up to four ramparts some 25m deep along the E flank and around the ends. This belt of defences, however, is composite, and the innermost rampart is clearly the latest, with entrances reusing earlier gaps on the NNE and SW, but blocking the earlier entrance in the middle of the ESE side. Its entrance in this side is a little further south, approached obliquely through gaps cut through the outer ramparts to expose the visitor's left side; RCAHMS investigators in 1952 identified by probing that the medial ditch of the outermost ramparts was continuous across this gap. Excavation by Ian Richmond and J K St Joseph in 1950 showed that the innermost rampart is stone-faced, about 2.7m in thickness, with a shallow quarry scoop to its rear, and overlay deposits in the quarry behind the rampart immediately in front. This latter, in accordance with the interpretation of Mrs C M Piggott's work at Hownam Rings (Atlas no.3401), was considered the perimeter of a free-standing enclosure, taking in a rather larger area of about 0.59ha, to which the two outer ramparts flanking a medial ditch had subsequently been added (RCAHMS 1956, 169-72, no.308; Richmond and St Joseph 1982, 278-9, fig 2). While these two outer ramparts may be an addition, perhaps reflected in the deflection of their lines at the entrance on the ESE, it is as well not to impose the supposed sequence found at Hownam Rings elsewhere, and the divergence of their circuit on the SSW at Woden Law could as easily indicate that this was a yet earlier enclosure. At each stage in the evolution of the defences, there were probably three entrances, the roadways through the three outer ramparts on the NNE and ESE approaching obliquely to expose the visitors left side. This is particularly noticeable at the ESE entrance, where the terminals of the inner of the earlier ramparts, the second rampart of the four visible on this side, are offset to either side of the gap. Likewise, one of the terminals of this rampart at the SSW entrance appears to turn inwards, though in this case to expose the visitor's right side. In addition to what may be a single stone-founded round-house adjacent to the innermost rampart on the W, there are traces of numerous large timber round-houses throughout the interior, though these do not appear on any plan.

The relationship of the complex of earthworks outside the fort to the defensive sequence is not understood. At the SSW end they include elements that have been described as annexes, occupying the space between the fort and an outer belt of banks and ditches that appears to invest the southern and eastern flanks of the defences. The inner of the supposed annexes forms an enclosure against the defences, but plainly overlies the outermost rampart and ditch of the fort, while the outer seals off the gap between the defences and the outer belt. In 1950, these latter, and further earthworks to the S and E, were postulated to be the remains of Roman siegeworks. On the E the main belt comprises three ditches with intermediate banks, but close examination shows that at the southern end it is made up of three separate banks and ditches, the inner of which blocks an entrance in the middle one. Sections by Richmond and St Joseph (1982) revealed evidence of turf-work in their construction and re-cutting of the ditches, but was unable to demonstrate their date. While Roman activity may have taken place here, these earthworks may have other explanations more directly associated with the use of the fort (Halliday 1982, 80-3).

Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 19 October 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC3408