Alternative Names Bowdenhill
Site type FORT
Canmore ID 47912
Site Number NS97SE 1
NGR NS 9775 7440
Council WEST LOTHIAN
Parish TORPHICHEN
Former Region LOTHIAN
Former District WEST LOTHIAN
Former County WEST LOTHIAN

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Archaeological Notes

NS97SE 1 9775 7440

(NS 9775 7440) Fort (NR)
OS 6" map (1968).

See also NJ97SE 91.

This fort (R W Feachem 1963) a walled enclosure (R W Feachem 1965) was formed by a single stone wall, now much robbed, which ran round the summit of Bowden Hill, taking the best advantage of natural defensive features. It encloses a similar area to the fort on Cockleroy (NS97SE 9) and there is every reason to suppose that the two were contemporary.
It occupies a position of considerable natural strength, and the RCAHMS note the grass-grown ruins of the stone wall on the N of the hill, and the entrance on the E, the only line of approach. No trace of the wall was noted round other parts of the hill, but slight indications, suggestive of further work were seen on the highest point of the hill in 1926.
RCAHMS 1929, visited 1926; R W Feachem 1963; R W Feachem 1965.

This fort is generally as described, though very much bigger than Cockleroy, its form is similar. Within the fort on the summit of the hill is a sub-rectangular work consisting of a slight bank on the W side with a scarp on the N and S. The remains are so slight and bracken covered that it is impossible to establish their relationship to the fort.
Visited by OS (JLD) 5 December 1952 and (JP) 20 August 1974.

Feachem, R (1965) The North Britons: the prehistory of a Border people, London
Page(s): 159 Held at RCAHMS E.2.FEA

Feachem, R W (1963b) A guide to prehistoric Scotland, London
Page(s): 159 Held at RCAHMS E.2.FEA

RCAHMS (1929) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions of Scotland. Tenth report with inventory of monuments and constructions in the counties of Midlothian and West Lothian, Edinburgh
Page(s): 239, No.384 Held at RCAHMS A.1.1.INV/10