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Doon Hill

Fort (Iron Age)

Site Name Doon Hill

Classification Fort (Iron Age)

Canmore ID 57665

Site Number NT67NE 60

NGR NT 68344 75513

NGR Description Centre

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/57665

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

  • Council East Lothian
  • Parish Spott (East Lothian)
  • Former Region Lothian
  • Former District East Lothian
  • Former County East Lothian

Archaeology Notes

NT67NE 60 NT 68340 75520

See also NT67NE 50 and NT67NE 95.

(NT 6834 7552) Fort (NR) (Site of)

OS 6" map (1908)

Fort, Doon Hill. On the shoulder of the hill about 110 yards W of, and some 15ft lower than,the summit, are the badly mutilated remains of a fort, oval in outline, of which the longer axis runs ENE and WSW. The distance between the ramparts at the ENE end was 34ft, but widened on the southern flank. The outer defence took the form of a scarp at the WSW end, 124 ft distant from the inner rampart and 15ft lower. The entrance was at the NW end.

RCAHMS 1924

The fort was triangular in plan with the apex pointing west, and was defended by a triple rampart on both E and S sides. Internally it measured approximately 400ft in length by 250ft in maximum breadth. It is now ploughed out.

RCAHMS Marginal Lands MS 1954

Generally as described above; the ramparts have been further reduced by cultivation.

Resurveyed at 1/2500.

Visited by OS (RD) 7 April 1966

Activities

Field Visit (25 June 1913)

0n the shoulder of the hill about 110 yards west of, and some 15 feet lower than, the summit of Doon Hill, which rises 582 feet above sea-level are the badly mutilated remains of a fort, oval in outline, of which the longer axis runs east north-east and west-south-west, and which measures internally some 392 feet in length by 222 feet in breadth. On the northern flank the slope of the hill is steep from the inner rampart, but on the opposite flank the ground slopes gradually for some 50 yards and then falls away in a stiff brae. Through cultivation a large portion of the defences has been obliterated. The inner rampart, now distributed over a width of 32 feet and reduced to a height of barely 2 feet at the east-northeastern end, the best preserved part, is almost obliterated on the flanks. An outer rampart of about the same dimensions can be traced only round the east-north-eastern end and for some distance along the southern side. The distance between the ramparts at this end is 34 feet but widens on the southern flank. This outer defence takes the form of a scarp at the west-south-western end, 124 feet distant from the inner rampart and 15 feet lower. The entrance has been at the north-west and is now 30 feet wide.

RCAHMS 1924, visited 25 June 1913.

Field Visit (5 October 1954)

Fort, Doon Hill (site).

The fort on Doon Hill has recently been levelled by cultivation, but National Survey air-photographs taken in 1947 (1) show that the Inventory is incorrect in describing it as an oval work with double ramparts (2). It is, in fact, triangular on plan, with the apex pointing to the W, and was defended by triple ramparts on both the E and S sides. Internally it measured approximately 400 ft in length by 250 ft in maximum breadth.

(1) CPE/Scot/UK 257, 3099-3100.

(2) RCAHMS 1924, No. 166. No. 179 in the same Inventory also appears to refer to this fort.

Visited by RCAHMS (KAS) 5 October 1954.

Note (31 December 2015 - 9 August 2016)

This fort, one of two on Doon Hill (see Atlans No.3910), is situated on the WSW end of the elongated summit overlooking Spott House, and though its ramparts and ditches have been heavily ploughed down, traces of two of them are still visible as undulations in the surface of the field, cutting across the crest of the hill on the ENE to turn sharply along the S flank, and almost certainly returning along the edge of the steep escarpment falling away on the NW. Thus defined, the fort is pear-shaped on plan, tapering towards the WSW, and measures internally some 120m from ENE to WSW by a maximum of 75m transversely (0.75ha). The cropmarks, however, suggest a more complex configuration, with no fewer than three ditches crossing the crest of the hill and turning onto the S flank, though the markings are too diffuse in this sector to correlate them precisely with the standing remains of the ramparts, and are further confused by what is probably an internal quarry scoop to the rear of the rampart elsewhere on the S. In addition, photographs taken in 1984 show two possible palisade trenches concentrically outside the outer ditch on the ENE, the outer intersecting the outermost palisade of the adjacent fort, and though they cannot be traced along the southern flank, other trenches can probably be detected amongst the markings at the WSW tip of the fort. In this same year, the arc of yet another palisade trench was photographed cutting across the WSW end of the interior, with two post-holes flanking an entrance on the NE. No other features have been detected within the interior, and only one entrance is certainly visible, marked by a deep re-entrant in the line of the outer rampart on the S; apparently elaborate, exploiting a natural hollow in the hillside, the cropmarks are too diffuse to resolve the details of its plan. This entrance was not noted by the RCAHMS investigators who visited in 1913, and they suggested the entrance was on the NW, apparently marked by a gap in the defences some 9m in breadth.

Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 09 August 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC3907

Note (6 October 2022)

The location, classification and period of this site have been reviewed.

Note (10 June 2023)

The location, classification and period of this site have been reviewed.

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