Guiltreehill

NS31SE 12 NS 35328 10971

(NS 3532 1097) Earthwork (NR)

OS 1:10000 map (1977)

Situated on the W base of Guiltree Hill is the site of an old British camp; it is circular in form and quite level with the general surface. It has not been excavated, but part of an old spear was found in it when it was first ploughed, about fifty years ago.

Name Book 1856; NSA 1845

On the rounded summit of a SW spur of Guiltree Hill, about 530ft OD, there is an earthwork, much reduced by cultivation. It is circular on plan and consists of traces of an inner and outer rampart with a medial ditch, now almost completely filled in. The enclosed area measures about 60.0m in diameter; the ditch is some 5.0m wide and 0.5m in depth. The site is known locally as 'Wallace's Ring'.

Visited by OS (JD) 21 November 1955

Generally as described above. It may have been a small settlement, though all traces of internal structures have been obliterated. The name 'Wallace's Ring' could not be confirmed.

Resurveyed at 1:2500.

Visited by OS(WDJ) 11 September 1968

The earthwork is regularly ploughed but its outline is still clearly visible. It is situated on the crest of a flat hilltop with commanding views on all but the NE and E sides. The level interior is higher than the surrounding ground and vestiges of the inner rampart can be identified. The outer rampart is no longer clearly visible and there is no evidence of a causeway across the ditch. It is visible on aerial photographs (RAF/106G/Scot/UK90: 3068-9, flown 1946; CUCAP CHO 50-2, flown 1978); the apparent annexe on the SE side is a fortuitous soil mark.

The origin and purpose of this earthwork are conjectural, but it may be a settlement (cf NS31NE 6 and NS31SW 6).

Visited by OS (MJF) 25 September 1980