Toftcombs

RCAHMS surveyed this site by plane-table on 2 September 1959 as part of the Marginal Land Survey. The resultant plan was redrawn in ink in 1974 and published at a reduced size in the County Inventory of Lanarkshire (RCAHMS 1978, Figure 65).

NT03NE 1 0539 3959

(NT 0539 3959) Fort & Settlement (NR)

OS 25" map, (1977).

When seen in 1972, the OS field surveyor (DWR) considered that ramparts B and C formed a fort, while wall A constituted a later settlement, in the interior of which the foundations of two circular stone houses, one 10.7m and the other 7.6m in diameter were noted.

Resurveyed at 1:2500.

Visited by OS (DWR) 21 July 1972.

NT 053 395. This fort is situated 800m NW of Toftcombs farm- house, at the E end of the long ridge that forms the E extension of Bizzyberry Hill. It is in a very wasted condition, but exhibits three lines of defence, namely a wall (A on plan - see RCAHMS 1978, fig.65) with a pair of ramparts and ditches (B and C) outside it. The chronological relationship of these defences is uncertain, but it is possible that, as at the fort on Black Hill (NS92SW ), the ramparts and ditches represent the earliest stage in the fortification of the site, the wall being a later addition.

Wall A, which encloses an area measuring 48m by 34m, is now little more than a stony bank up to 4m thick. The original entrance is on the E, the gap on the NW probably being of recent origin. Within the interior there are the partial stone foundations of a circular house.

Ramparts B and C are for the most part reduced to mere scarps, and only short stretches of the ditches survive. On the W, where they are best preserved, the outer and inner ramparts stand to heights of 1.5m and 0.9m respectively. There is an original entrance, 3.7m wide, on the E, while a second one may be represented by a gap on the NW, which has been enlarged by the comparatively recent quarrying that has also completely destroyed rampart B for a considerable distance on this side. On the W side, rampart B diverges from 'A' to run straight for 37m before turning sharply NE to join the inner rampart at the gap on the NW. The reason for this divergence is not clear, but a similar feature occurs at Cow Castle (NT 03 SW 14).

RCAHMS 1978, visited August 1975.

Photographed by the RCAHM in 1980.

RCAHMS AP catalogue 1980.

This fort is situated on the eastern tip of the long spur that extends ENE from Bizzyberry Hill. Its defences comprise two elements, namely an inner enclosure bounded by a spread stony bank 4m thick, and two outer ramparts accompanied by external ditches. The inner enclosure is roughly oval on plan and measures internally 48m from N to S by 34m transversely (0.13ha); it has entrances on the E and probably the NW, though RCAHMS investigators in 1975 suggested the latter may be of recent origin (RCAHMS 1978, 107, no.239). They also suggested that the difference in character between perimeters of the inner and outer enclosures might indicate that the latter was earlier. Again roughly oval on plan, the outer ramparts enclose an area measuring 63m from N to S by 52m transversely (0.25ha), and there are entrances on the E and NW. The NW entrance is notable not only for a worn hollow extending up to the entrance in the inner enclosure, but also for the arrangement of the outer rampart, which diverges from the inner on the spine of the spur on the W, before cutting back at right-angles to form one side of an extended entrance way approaching the gap in the rampart. Whether this is an an original feature of the entrance is uncertain; it would have exposed the right side of approaching visitors, but the bank flanking the entrance may overlie the inner ditch, hinting that the arrangement is the result of other factors, which might also explain why its accompanying ditch turns down the S flank of the spur rather than pursuing a concentric line round towards the E. Within the interior there are the remains of at least one round-house comprising a stony ring-bank with an internal ring-ditch; there is possibly a second immediately to the N. These houses presumably belong to the final period of occupation within the interior, rather than to the earlier enclosure.

Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 16 August 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC3229