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Maxwellston Hill
Fort (Prehistoric)
Site Name Maxwellston Hill
Classification Fort (Prehistoric)
Canmore ID 62566
Site Number NX29NE 1
NGR NX 25963 98960
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/62566
- Council South Ayrshire
- Parish Dailly
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Kyle And Carrick
- Former County Ayrshire
NX29NE 1 2595 9895.
(NX 259 989) Fort (NR)
OS 6" map (1958)
An oval fort, possibly unfinished, consisting of two earthen ramparts, which are presumably contemporary although not concentric, with external quarry ditches. The defences can be traced round the summit of the hill except on the steep NNW side, where the abrupt and well- defined terminals of the ditches suggest that they have not continued round this side. The ramparts are still well-defined on the east where they measure 7.3m in maximum width, 1m externally and 0.3m internally in maximum height. Elsewhere they exist only as crest lines. There is a staggered causewayed entrance on the east the break in the inner rampart being 7m wide and the outer 5m.
Both ramparts and ditches have an unfinished look, the ditch being perfunctory in some places as though it were simply a marking-out trench (R W Feachem 1963; RCAHMS TS 12 May 1953).
Visited by OS (JLD) 5 May 1954
NX 2595 9895. This fort is as described.
Surveyed at 1:10 000.
Visited by OS (SFS) 28 January 1976
Field Visit (12 May 1953)
This site was included within the RCAHMS Marginal Land Survey (1950-1962), an unpublished rescue project. Site descriptions, organised by county, are available to view online - see the searchable PDF in 'Digital Items'. These vary from short notes, to lengthy and full descriptions. Contemporary plane-table surveys and inked drawings, where available, can be viewed online in most cases - see 'Digital Images'. The original typecripts, notebooks and drawings can also be viewed in the RCAHMS search room.
Information from RCAHMS (GFG) 19 July 2013.
Field Visit (1982)
Maxwellston Hill NX 259 989 NX29NE 1
This fort is situated on Maxwellston Hill, the vvestermost summit of Hadyard Hill. On the NW it is strongly protected by steep slopes, and elsewhere by two eccentric ramparts (up to 4.5m thick and 0. 7m high), each accompanied by an external ditch. The interior measures 87m by 62m and there are entrances on the W and ENE respectively.
RCAHMS 1983, July 1982
(Dalrymple 1889; Christison 1893, 395-6; Smith 1895, 205-6; Feachem 1977, 110).
Note (20 December 2013 - 23 May 2016)
This oval fort takes in the summit of the hill and is defended around most of the circuit by two ramparts with external ditches, though they are set eccentrically to one another, ranging from 15m apart on the E and converging westwards to 5m on the SW, and disappearing entirely on the steep slopes on the NW. The ramparts are typically about 4.5m in thickness by 0.7m in height on the level ground on the E, but they reduce down to scarps elsewhere. There are entrances on the ENE and W, and the outer rampart does not continue beyond the latter onto the NW quarter. On the ENE the entrance gap in the inner line is 7m wide, whereas in the outer line it is 5m. The interior, which measures 87m from ESE to WNW by 62m transversely, is featureless.
In 1953 RCAHMS considered that the defences appeared unfinished, suggesting the ditches were little more than marking out trenches, and also citing as evidence the abrupt terminals to both lines either side of the gap on the steep NW flank, and the discontinuation of the outer beyond the W entrance. Such arguments are no longer convincing and there is no reason to believe that the perimeter is not as its original builders intended.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 23 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC0213
