West Kilbride, Seamill

NS24NW 10 2031 4715.

(NS 2031 4715) Fort (NR)

OS 6" map (1970)

'A few years ago, an opening being made in the ground outside of the rampart at Seamill, a considerable quantity of charcoal of wood, bones of cattle and deers' horns, some of which appearing to have been sawn asunder, were found a few feet below the surface, the materials of the wall having fallen down over the place.'

NSA 1845.

The 'fort' at Seamill occupies a tongue of land projecting from the end of the S. bank of the ravine of Kilbride Burn, a situation comparable with that of a number of like structures along the Ayrshire coast (e.g. NS14NE 1, NS24NW 9).

Though Christison, in 1893, notes only a massive rampart, 8ft above the interior, cutting off the narrow neck by which it is approached, when excavated in 1880, ramparts were noted following the oval summit of the mound, enclosing an area measuring 90ft by 60ft. On the seaward side, "there were two walls, an outer and an inner, about 5 or 6ft thick, and only a few yards apart, which coalesced into one at the NW apex. On the N side the bank was very steep, and hardly any remains of a wall were seen. Between the mound (occupied by the 'fort') and the projecting ridge from the mainland there was a hollow overlooking which there still remained a considerable portion of what appeared to have been the strongest and thickest part of the rampart (noted by Christison). In the construction of these surrounding walls large undressed stones were used, without any cementing element, and the interstices were filled with smaller stones and earth. A wall along the shorter axis of the enclosure divided it into two unequal parts, the smaller of which, that next the rising ridge from the mainland, was found, upon clearing out a large quantity of debris and stones from the fallen walls, to have been partly paved with stones. The stuff lying over the area of this rude pavement was nearly all trenched over, in the course of which were found abundance of charcoal and ashes, bones, horns, sea-shells, and all the following relics", (R Munro 1882).

The artifacts found are now in the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS Accession nos. HR 451-478). They include a hammer-stone (dug up in the outer enclosure), a stone ball, 1 1/2ins in diameter, worked pieces of shale, a bone plate, 2 7/8ins by 1in with a perforation at each end, used pieces of deer-horn and bone, a whetstone, a wheel-like object of bronze, 1 3/4ins in diameter, a thick bronze ring, 3/4ins in diameter, pieces of sheet bronze, portions of glass, iron, and a small piece of reddish pottery. An antler implement, also from this site, was donated in 1927 by D A Boyd (Accession no: HR 818). Robertson (1970) noted that sherds of coarse, possibly Roman, pots from this site are in the NMAS. (However, she gives Munro as the authority for this statement, but he makes no mention of coarse pottery).

D Christison 1893; R Munro 1899; NMAS 1892; Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1927

The site of Seamill fort is mainly covered by a lawn which continues to the natural slopes on the N, S and SW sides. The remains of the fort comprise a rampart and ditch on the SE, the rampart continuing for 16m along the NE side, where it measures 1m wide and 1.4m high, and has been cut into by the lawn, exposing a stony construction. On the SE, the rampart is 3m wide, rises 3m above the lawn, and is 4m above the ditch, which is about 13m wide and 3m deep.

Visited by OS (DS) 13 September 1956

The fort is generally as described above. What little remains is difficult to distinguish from subsequent landscaping. The scarp forming the W side of the lawn may, however, be part of the fort.

Resurveyed at 1:2500.

Visited by OS (JTT) 21 October 1964

The vestiges of a fort, as described, whose area falls entirely within a private garden. Although heavily landscaped, the slopes around the SW are basically as planned by Munro, and the internal measurements appear little altered. The ditch is no longer evident as the counterscarp has been removed by landscaping.

Visited by OS (JRL) 25 November 1982