Castlehill Wood

Fort, Castle Hill, Castlehill Wood.

In Castlehill Wood, about 250 yards to the southwest of Bogside Railway Station, and at an elevation of 200 feet above sea-level, is a small plateau of very regular oval form with its major axis north-west and south-east. It is surrounded by a single ditch, the well-marked enclosure thus produced having a maximum measurement of 185 by 135 feet. At the southeast the ditch has been left uncut in order to provide a passage for entrance. This passage has been about 20 feet wide, and at its inner end there are on either side faint traces of a low mound, which in all probability once ran right round the edge of the enclosure and which may have been palisaded.

RCAHMS 1933, visited 23 April 1925.

NS 946 882, NS 971 899 and NS 896 787 A programme of surveys was undertaken 9 April–10 June 2011 on three forts in the Scottish lowlands.

Kier Plantation fort is located roughly half way up the eastern side of Moor Loch in an area of mixed woodland. The W of the site is bordered by the Moor Loch, the N by marshy ground that was originally part of the loch and the E and S by flat ground. The fort is sub-circular in shape and a maximum of c70m in diameter, with a number of banks and ditches. There is a knoll at the N end that would have originally formed a promontory into the loch. Although there is no internal rampart the incline on the inner face of the ditch is very sharp, reaching 1.5m high in places. A definite break in the bank and ditch mark the position of a possible entrance to SW.

Castlehill Wood fort is located on fairly level low-lying ground in mature trees within Bogside Wood. The fort is oval in shape and measures c70m NW–SE by 48m NE–SW and is mostly surrounded by a bank and ditch, although the ditch is barely visible in the W. There is an entrance in the SE.

Callendar Wood fort is located in an area of mixed deciduous trees in Callendar Wood. The fort is sub-rectangular in shape, measures c155m E–W by 93m N–S and consists of a ditch with an external bank. The ditch measures between c0.3–3.0m in depth and is deepest at the E end. The ditch is least visible along a small southern section. There is an entrance in the SE flanked on either side with fairly large banks, and a possible smaller entrance in the SW. Two much smaller ditches, which are aligned roughly N–S across the site, appear to be later additions and are possibly associated with later drainage related to the footpath.

Archive: RCAHMS. Report: Fife and North Lanarkshire SMR

Funder: Forestry Commission Scotland

Rebecca Shaw Archaeological Services, 2011