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White Hill

Enclosure (Period Unassigned), Quarry(S) (Period Unassigned)

Site Name White Hill

Classification Enclosure (Period Unassigned), Quarry(S) (Period Unassigned)

Alternative Name(s) Correen Hills; Gordonstown; Battle Of Tillieangus; Battle Of Tillyangus

Canmore ID 17703

Site Number NJ52SW 1

NGR NJ 52830 24417

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/17703

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Aberdeenshire
  • Parish Clatt
  • Former Region Grampian
  • Former District Gordon
  • Former County Aberdeenshire

Archaeology Notes

NJ52SW 1 52830 24417.

(NJ 5283 2441) Stone Circle (NR).

OS 6" map, (1959)

A very large circle of stones, many of which have been removed for building purposes. Locally, according to the ONB (1866), it was thought to be a Druidical circle which had been fortified anew by the Clan Forbes preparatory to the battle of Tillyangus (Tillieangus: NJ52SW 6). Coles (1902) gives its diameter as 126 feet (38.4m) and describes it as a fallen dike of small stones, certainly not a 'stone circle' in the accepted sense.

Name Book 1866; F R Coles 1902.

Situated prominently on the top of White Hill, a N spur of the Correen Hills, but in a poor defensive position, are the remains of a sub-circular enclosure, c.39.0m N to S by c.36.0m transversely, formed by a severely robbed drystone wall, traceable now only as a rickle of stones.

No trace of an entrance of interior occupation.

Re-surveyed at 1/2500.

Visited by OS (RL) 13 September 1967.

Enclosure [NR]

OS 1:10,000 map, 1973.

This sub-circular enclosure is situated at an altitude of 315m OD.

NMRS, MS/712/53.

(Classification amended to enclosure and quarries). This subcircular enclosure is situated in rough pasture on a N-facing spur at the foot of the Correen Hills, 400m SE of Gordonstown farmsteading (NJ52SW 75). It measures 39m from E to W by 33.5m transversely within a wall reduced to an irregular band of rubble up to 3.5m in thickness and 0.3m in height. There is no evidence of an entrance, which is unlikely to have lain on the N, where shallow quarries are visible immediately outside the line of the wall. These quarries may be contemporary with the construction of the wall. No internal features were visible on the date of visit.

As with other archaeological sites and striking natural features in the immediate neighbourhood (see NJ52SW 4, NJ52SW 5, NJ52SW 6, NJ52SW 8 ), this enclosure has been ascribed a role in the story of the Battle of Tillieangus. Tayler and Tayler note that 'Adam Gordon, of Auchindoun, acting as deputy for his brother George, 5th Earl of Huntly, and moved by the ancient jealousy and new grievances, attacked the Forbeses in their entrenchments on the Whitehill of Tillieangus in the south-west corner of the parish of Clatt and the Forbes were heavily defeated and forced to flee'.

Visited by RCAHMS (ATW, PC), 9 September 1998.

A and H Tayler 1937.

(Classified as hill enclosure). Air photographs: AAS/00/02/G3/9-11 and AAS/00/02/CT.

NMRS, MS/712/100.

Activities

Excavation (15 November 2016 - 16 November 2016)

NJ 52830 24417 (NJ52SW 1) As part of the Northern Picts Project surveys and excavations have been undertaken on a number of enclosed settlements in Moray and Aberdeenshire to help construct regional datasets on the dating of fortified settlement.

A two-day evaluation, 15–16 November 2016, targeted a univallate fort/enclosure at White Hill overlooking the village of Clatt. The monument consists of a sub-circular enclosure measuring c39m E/W and 34m N/S, defined by a low stone wall The enclosure wall measures between 2–4m wide and up to 0.3m in height. No evidence of an entrance or internal

features are visible.

A series of trenches were laid out to obtain dating evidence and to characterize the survival of the archaeology. The trenches generally found subsoil and few anthropogenic features. One trench identified stone rubble from a possible interior structure and another had traces of a potential floor layer near the outer enclosure wall (Trench 8). Radiocarbon dating on charcoal from the possible floor layer is under way.

Archive: University of Aberdeen

Funder: University of Aberdeen and Historic Environment Scotland

Gordon Noble and Oskar Sveinbjarnarson – University of Aberdeen

(Source: DES, Volume 18)

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