Chester Hill
Fort (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Chester Hill
Classification Fort (Period Unassigned)
Canmore ID 47463
Site Number NS93NE 1
NGR NS 9532 3953
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/47463
- Council South Lanarkshire
- Parish Covington And Thankerton
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Clydesdale
- Former County Lanarkshire
NS93NE 1 9532 3953.
(NS 9532 3953) Fort (NR)
OS 25" map, (1970).
An almost circular fort occupies the gently rounded summit of Chester Hill (305m OD). It measures about 85m in diameter within double ramparts and a medial ditch. The inner rampart, measuring up to 6m thick at the base, stands to a height of 1.5m above the interior and 2.4m above the bottom of the ditch. On the N, short stretches of the outer rampart have been almost levelled by cultivation, but elsewhere it is up to 4.9m in thickness and survives to a height of 1.2m internally and 0.6m externally. The ramparts are composed of earth with a high proportion of stone, partly from the ditch but mainly from a series of broad and irregular quarry-scoops visible immediately inside the inner rampart. There are two entrances, on the ESE and W respectively, each measuring 3.0m in width. The site has been much disturbed by a plantation, much of which has been uprooted, and the interior contains no traces of structures. (See RCAHMS 1978 plan, fig.53).
RCAHMS 1978, visited 1975.
This well-preserved fort was in a similar condition when visited in 1968.
Surveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS(WDJ) 29 January 1968.
NS 953 396 As part of a survey of the prehistoric upland landscape around the large Late Neolithic enclosure at Blackshouse Burn, several concentrations of monuments were recorded by total station survey in October 1998. A survey was carried out of the circular, double-banked and ditched enclosure on Chester Hill (NS 953 396). Geophysical survey (including fluxgate gradiometer and electrical resistivity) was also carried out of the interior of the enclosure, and found evidence for an interior ditch or series of quarry scoops, as well as a possible former entrance on the S.
A full report is lodged with the NMRS.
Sponsor: Historic Scotland
O Lelong and L Sharpe 1999
Project (1998)
NS 953 396 As part of a survey of the prehistoric upland landscape around the large Late Neolithic enclosure at Blackshouse Burn, several concentrations of monuments were recorded by total station survey in October 1998. A survey was carried out of the circular, double-banked and ditched enclosure on Chester Hill (NS 953 396). Geophysical survey (including fluxgate gradiometer and electrical resistivity) was also carried out of the interior of the enclosure, and found evidence for an interior ditch or series of quarry scoops, as well as a possible former entrance on the S.
The large and small enclosures in the basin at Blackshouse Burn (NS 953 405) and at Meadowflatts (NS94SE 12) were surveyed by total station, along with small cairns and possible building platforms in the vicinity. Geophysical survey in the western part of the large Blackshouse Burn enclosure revealed a series of magnetic anomalies which may represent burning events or waterlogged posts used in the bank construction.
A concentration of archaeological remains on the SW-facing slope of Cairngryffe Hill, to the SE of Cloburn Quarry (NS 947 410), was also surveyed including several hut circles, many small clearance cairns, cultivation traces, hollow ways and a sub-rectangular scooped building. Archaeological remains surveyed on the NE facing slopes of Swaites Hill included clearance cairns, hollow ways, cultivation traces and, on the summit of Swaites Hill, what is probably a large ring-cairn.
A full report is lodged with the NMRS.
Sponsor: Historic Scotland
O Lelong and L Sharpe 1999
Earth Resistance Survey (1998)
NS 953 396 As part of a survey of the prehistoric upland landscape around the large Late Neolithic enclosure at Blackshouse Burn, resistance surveys were conducted in October 1998.
A full report is lodged with the NMRS.
Sponsor: Historic Scotland
O Lelong and L Sharpe 1999
Magnetometry (1998)
NS 953 396 As part of a survey of the prehistoric upland landscape around the large Late Neolithic enclosure at Blackshouse Burn, fluxgate and gradiometry surveys were conducted in October 1998.
A full report is lodged with the NMRS.
Sponsor: Historic Scotland
O Lelong and L Sharpe 1999
Note (26 August 2014 - 17 August 2016)
This circular fort is situated on the southern shoulder of the rounded summit of Chester Hill. It measures about 85m in diameter within twin ramparts with a medial ditch (0.55ha); the inner rampart is about 6m in thickness by 1.5m in height internally and its crest stands about 2.4m above the bottom of the ditch. There are entrances on the ESE and W, but the only feature visible within the interior is a shallow quarry scoop up to 10m broad lying immediately behind the inner rampart.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 17 August 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC1702
