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Broomhillbank Hill

Fort (Prehistoric)

Site Name Broomhillbank Hill

Classification Fort (Prehistoric)

Alternative Name(s) Broom Hill Bank Hill

Canmore ID 66973

Site Number NY19SW 9

NGR NY 13100 91080

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/66973

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

  • Council Dumfries And Galloway
  • Parish Applegarth
  • Former Region Dumfries And Galloway
  • Former District Annandale And Eskdale
  • Former County Dumfries-shire

Archaeology Notes

NY19SW 9 13100 91080

(NY 1310 9108) Ancient Earthwork (NAT)

OS 6" map, (1957)

For nearby cord rig (centred NY 1314 9098), see NY19SW 68.

Not to be confused with fort to SW (at NY 12850 90860, on the SW slope of the hill), for which see NY19SW 7.

This fort, splendidly situated on the summit of Broomhill Bank Hill, commands extensive prospects in all directions and is characteristic of many in the district. Its oval interior measures 190 ft (57.9m) by 170 ft (51.8m) within defences consisting of a rampart on either side of a broad ditch. There are two entrances.

R W Feachem 1963

A double rampart of earth-and-stone, with medial ditch, encloses an area c. 50.0m in diameter. There are two entrances, one in the E which is causewayed and another directly opposite in the W. The interior is level and featureless, and although the situation, on a rounded hill-top is not particularly defensive, the large ramparts and deep ditch suggests that this is a fort.

Resurveyed at 1:2500.

Visited by OS (R D) 16 January 1971

Listed among 'Smaller forts and defended settlements'.

G Jobey 1971.

Scheduled as 'Broomhillbank Hill... hilltop fort...'

Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 5 February 2010.

Fort [NR]

OS (GIS) MasterMap, March 2010.

Activities

Field Visit (23 July 1912)

Fort, Broomhill Bank Hill.

Some 260 yards to the north-east of the last [NY19SW 7] is another fort on the summit of the hill, at an elevation of some 871 feet over sea-level, not visible from its neighbour and commanding a great prospect in all directions. The inclination from the direction of the last fort is slight, but on the west and north the hill falls sharply away. The enceinte is oval in form, lying with its main axis north and south, measures in diameter 190 feet by 170 feet, and is surrounded by a slight parapet mound and a trench partially cut through rock, at most some 6 feet deep and 28 feet wide, with a mound on the counterscarp varying in height as the level beyond rises or falls. There are two entrances, one on the east side of indefinite width overlooking the steep slope to the base of the hill, and the other on the west side, some 10 feet wide, from the direction of the other fort. The interior, which has not been hollowed, rises at the centre 5 to 6 feet above the level of the entrances.

RCAHMS 1920, visited 23 July 1912.

OS 6" map, Dumf., 2nd ed, (1900).

Measured Survey (13 August 1990)

RCAHMS surveyed the fort at Broomhillbank Hill (NY19SW 9) with plane-table and self-reducing alidade on 13 August 1990 at a scale of 1:500. The plan was redrawn in ink and published at a scale of 1:1000 (RCAHMS 1997, Fig. 123).

Field Visit (18 July 1990)

NY 1310 9108 NY19SW 9

The remains of this fort are situated at the N end of the ridge known as Broomhillbank Hill, about 220m to the NE of the remains of the palisaded enclosure and fort NY19SW 7. Roughly circular on plan, it measures about 49m in diameter within twin ramparts and a medial ditch. The inner rampart measures up to 8m in thickness and 1m in height, and is accompanied for much of its length by a shallow internal quarry-scoop; the medial ditch is up to 3.3m broad by 0.4m deep, and the outer rampart 5.5m thick by 0.5m high. From the entrance (3.2m wide), which lies on the W, a short stretch of sunken trackway climbs the slope into the interior. There is a relatively recent gap in the defences on the E, while to the N of the entrance the outer rampart has been disturbed. Within the interior of the fort there are the remains of two ring-ditch houses; each measures up to 11m in diameter overall and has an entrance on the W.

Visited by RCAHMS (JRS, SMF), 18 July 1990.

Listed as fort.

RCAHMS 1997.

Note (18 June 2014 - 16 August 2016)

Situated on the summit of the ridge known as Broomhillbank Hill, this fort is circular on plan and measures 49m in diameter within twin ramparts with a medial ditch. The inner and outer ramparts are up to 8m and 5m thick respectively and the inner is about 1m in height. The ditch between them is about 4m broad and there are also traces of an internal quarry scoop around the greater part of the circuit. There are entrances on the WNW and ESE, the latter mutilated by a later track which enters the ditch at this point and exits through the outer rampart on the NW. There are two well-defined round-houses within the interior, each of which measures about 11m in diameter over a shallow ditch.

Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 16 August 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC1023

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