stirling-1963-vol-1/05_107

Transcription

No. 71 -- FORTS -- No. 73
from N. to S. by 180 ft. transversely. The ramparts are
greatly wasted and consist of low banks spread to a
maximum width of 15 ft. A few earthfast boulders
protruding from the banks probably represent wall-faces.
The ramparts are pierced at two points by a winding
forest-track, but it seems likely that another gap, on the
NE. arc, marks the position of the original entrance.

768917 -- NS 79 SE (unnoted) -- 22 February 1957

71. Fort, Sauchie Craig. This fort occupies a rocky
knoll on the brink of the cliff that overlooks the mouth
of Windy Yet Glen from the S. It is 1200 yds. due W. of
Sauchieburn House and at an elevation of just under
800 ft. O.D.The fort is roughly oval on plan (Fig. 10)

[Plan Inserted]
Fig. 10. Fort, Sauchie Craig (No. 71)

and measures internally 215 ft. in length from E. to W.
by 110 ft. in greatest width. Except on the N. side, where
the steep cliff probably constituted a sufficient defence
in itself, it was enclosed by triple fortifications consisting
of an inner wall and two earthen ramparts separated by
a ditch. All these remains are in a much dilapidated
condition at the present time. The wall has been heavily
robbed, and its original thickness cannot be estimated
with any accuracy since no facing-stones are visible and
the core is partly obscured by vegetation. The ramparts
have been similarly reduced almost to vanishing point
and are nowhere more than a few inches in height; the
inner one is little more than a crest-line, while the outer
one has been largely destroyed by a plantation fence and
only survives for a short-distance on the E. The entrance
appears to have been situated at the E. end of the fort,
where there is a gap in the wall 15 ft. in width. The
interior is rocky and shows no sign of structures.

763893 -- NS 78 NE (unnoted) -- 25 June 1952

72. Fort, Cowie. This fort is situated at a height of
200 ft. O.D. on the summit of Berry Hills, immedi-

[Plan Inserted]
Fig. 11 Fort, Cowie (No.72)

ately W. of Cowie village. It is pear-shaped on plan
(Fig. 11) and measures 150 ft. from N. to S. by 170 ft.
transversely within triple defences. The fort has been
under cultivation, and this has had the effect of reducing
the ramparts to mere scarps. On the W., where they are
well preserved, the scarps representing the inner, medial
and outer ramparts rise to heights of 3 ft., 6 ft. and
7 ft. 9 in. respectively. The ground between the ramparts
has been ploughed into level terraces which vary in
width from 15 ft. to 30 ft. except to S. and SE., where
the terrace between the inner and medial ramparts
narrows to about 3 ft. at it crosses the steep hillside. The
outer rampart was not taken across this slope. The
entrance, which is on the E., has been mutilated by
ploughing, and the interior is featureless.
Two quarries have encroached upon the fort. One,
shown on the O.S. map as "Polmaise Quarry (Disused)",
has removed the SW. extremity of the outer rampart
where this merged into the steep hillside and has also
cut into the SW. arc of the medial rampart. The other,
to NW. of the fort, was being worked on the date of the visit;
it had already removed a stretch of 150 ft. of the NW. arc
of the outer rampart.

836892 -- NS 88 NW (unnoted) -- 12 March 1952

73. Fort, Langlands. This fort (Fig. 12) is situated at a
height of 300 ft. O.D. on a rocky knoll locally known as
Carr's Hill,a quarter of a mile NW. of Langlands farm-
house. The knoll rises to a height of only a few feet above
the level of the broad ridge of which it forms the NW.
termination, to to W., N. and NE. its flanks fall steeply
for a distance of as much as 40 ft. to the right bank of the
Tor Burn.

-- 72