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Craigton Fort
Fort (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Craigton Fort
Classification Fort (Period Unassigned)
Alternative Name(s) Craigton Quarry
Canmore ID 49174
Site Number NT07NE 8
NGR NT 0761 7691
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/49174
- Council West Lothian
- Parish Abercorn (West Lothian)
- Former Region Lothian
- Former District West Lothian
- Former County West Lothian
NT07NE 8 0761 7691.
(NT 0761 7691) Fort (NR) (site of)
OS 6" map (1967)
For axe-hammer from Craigton held in the National Museum of Scotland (NMS AH 4), see NT07NE 58.
The remains of this fort, extant in 1855, when they were said to be traceable without difficulty, were described as "of earth, in which are embedded some large rough stones. On the N side it was almost inaccessible, and required no defences, but on the S and E the remains of two circular defences are quite distinct, also faint traces of an intermediate one." (Name Book 1855).
By 1926, the fort had been almost entirely quarried away, except for a small portion of a much spread rampart at the NE. Various querns, found during the demolition, were at Craigton House, and an axe-hammer from Craigton was in the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS), donated in 1828 (Accession no: AH 4).
RCAHMS 1929, visited 1926; NMAS Accessions Index.
The remains of this fort have been completely quarried away.
Visited by OS (JP) 25 March 1974.
Note (30 October 2015 - 3 August 2016)
Nothing remains of this fort, which had been largely destroyed by the Craigton Quarry before RCAHMS investigators visited in 1926. By that time no more than a spread fragment of a rampart survived on the NE, one of at least two that are depicted on earlier editions of the OS 25-inch map (Linlithgow 1856, sheet 6.2; 1895, sheet 6.2). Roughly oval on plan, the earlier of these maps gives the impression that the two ramparts formed an almost continuous circuit, though the accompanying commentary in the Name Book suggests that the steep N flank, which had already been subjected to some quarrying, had been left undefended (Linlthgowshire, No.5, p 20). A possible third rampart is shown between the inner and outer at the SE end, extending W from what was probably an entrance on the ESE; a gap in the outer rampart possibly marks the position of a second entrance on the W. The interior measured about 85m from NW to SE by up to 55m transversely (0.35ha). In the course of its destruction the upper stone of a rotary quern and two shallow stone basins were recovered (RCAHMS 1929, 187, no.283).
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 03 August 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC3688
