stirling-1963-vol-1/05_110

Transcription

No. 75 -- FORTS -- No. 76
perimeter where no outer face is actually exposed, is
difficult to account for in a drystone wall unless either
the core or the inner face is vitrified, and this supposition
is strengthened by the discovery, at the point marked V
on the plan, of a mass of vitrified material, now in Falkirk
Burgh Museum. This lay in an area which had been
disturbed by timber-hauling operations. That part, at
least, of the lower levels of the rubble core of the wall
is not vitrified can be seen in the gap where one stone of
the outer face has fallen away. This suggests that
vitrifaction may be confined to the inner face, as, for
example, at Duntroon ¹ or Lochan an Gour. ² The thick-
ness of the wall appears to have been about 10 ft. to 12 ft.
The other visible stretch of the outer face lies 14 ft. S. of
the stretch already described; it measures 12 ft. in length
and is represented by only one course of stones. The
entrance to the fort is on the NW., close to the crest of the
steep W. flank of the knoll. The interior is featureless.
In addition to the remains already described, some
slight traces of a second wall can be seen branching off
the main wall at the SW. corner of the fort and following
the outer margin of a terrace which interrupts the flanks of
the knoll on the N., S. and E. sides. This wall exhibits
no facing-stones at the present time, and its thickness is
uncertain.
The bare mention of a "Danish fort or observatory"
at Braes is made in the Statistical Account of Scotland; ³
while further evidence that it has been recognised since
that time appears incidentally in a note published in
1859. ⁴

797847 -- NS 78 SE (unnoted) -- 22 December 1953

75. Fort, Myot Hill. This fort is situated on the summit
of Myot Hill, which rises abruptly to a height of 696 ft.
above sea-level from the plain to the E. of Denny Muir.
It commands wide views in all directions, including a
stretch of the Antonine Wall from Bar Hill on the SW.
to beyond Rough Castle (No. 115) on the SE. The Hill
falls sharply away from the summit area to N., W. and S.,
but to the E. a gentle slope runs evenly down to the plain.
The fort (Fig. 14), which has been almost obliterated
by stone-robbing and weathering, is oval on plan and
measures 215 ft. in length from E. to W. by 140 ft.
transversely. No traces of defences can be seen along the
crests of the steep slopes to N., W. and S., but the slope
to the E. is traversed by the mutilated remains of two
ramparts. The inner one, a low, slightly curved mound
spread to a maximum width of 13 ft., runs S. from the
crest of the N. slope for a distance of 105 ft. After being
broken by a gap 11 ft. wide, which must represent the
site of the original entrance, it resumes to continue in
the form of a low scarp for some 25 ft. before merging
into the crest of the S. slope of the hill. The outer
rampart, which is only represented by a low scarp, takes
a similar course to the inner one, running from a point
on the N. crest of the hill at a distance of 38 ft. E. of the
beginning of the latter to finish 28 ft. E. of the N. side
of the entrance-gap. After a break of 22 ft. it resumes in
the form of a slight terrace, which runs SW. and W. for a
distance of 42 ft. before fading away on the S. slopes of
the hill. Apart from a small modern building, the interior
is featureless.
The possible connection of the place-name Myot Hill
with the tribal name Maeatae is noted by Watson. ⁵

781825 -- NS 78 SE (unnoted) -- 7 May 1953

[Plan Inserted]
Fig. 14. Fort, Myot Hill (No. 75)

76. Fort, Coneypark. This fort is situated on a ridge at
a height of 300 ft. O.D., 300 yds. NW. of Coneypark
farmhouse. It overlooks from the N. the low-lying land
that forms the marshy watershed between the River
Kelvin and the Bonny Water, and commands an
extensive view of the Antonine Wall from Rough Castle
to Bar Hill. The fort is oblong on plan (Fig. 15) and
measures internally 260 ft. in length from E, to W. by
110 ft. in maximum width. On both E. and W. it
is defended by double ramparts which lie athwart the
ridge, but no trace of defences can be seen along the
crests of the ridge to N. and S. The ramparts have been
severely mutilated by cultivation, the inner one being
reduced to a mere scarp while all that remains of the
outer rampart in each case is a low and fragmentary bank.
It is possible that each pair of ramparts was originally
accompanied by a medial ditch, and what appears to be
the counterscarp of an external ditch can be seen beyond
the dyke at the W. end of the fort.
The farm-track that crosses the site does not seem to
utilise an original entrance, and it is possible that this
occupied the gap between the E. defences and the N.
crest of the ridge.

1 P.S.A.S., xxxix (1904-5), 275 f.
2 Ibid., xliii (1908-9), 37 f.
3 Vol. iii (1792), 335 f.
4 P.S.A.S., iii (1857-60), 246.
5 Place Names, 59.

-- 75

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valrsl- Moderator, Brenda Pollock

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