Core Hill Hillfort View all content for Core Hill

The fort is right next to Kirkmaiden church, and I think that the churches entrance may well have been the original way in. The gorse covered rampart is about 25' higher than the adjacent road, and access to the site is via a small gate half way along the forts length, thence a climb round the end of the gorse adjacent to a hedge and house beyond. The interior of the fort has for the most part been levelled off, but it is possible to track the course of its three ramparts on the SE/E side as turf has been removed by stock erosion revealing the ramparts stonier ghosts against the surrounding soil. A small section of the ramparts remains adjacent to the churchyard wall, but these have been landscaped away on the wall's far side. Gorse has been quite recently been scraped away from the western rampart's edge, and with it a small amount of fort stonework accompanying general debris. Some of the ramparts stonework was visible in the gorse alongside the wall separating the site from the church entrance. I did wonder whether there had ever been three banks on the W, road frontage, and whether this arrangement had only encircled the fort's E and S sides. Luce Bay was visible E, and the Irish Sea W from the fort's top. From what I've read the levelling the site happened in modern times for the creation of a quoiting green, iirc. A neglected site, particularily when juxtaposed with the immaculately maintained churchyard over the wall. Of note in the vicinity is the very fine, photogenic and obviously ancient nearby holloway down which I drove to Low Curghie.. this must have been the connecting route between the sea and the higher lands of the interior, and put me back in a better mood after seeing the fort's neglect.

Posted by spencer 6th November 2015ce

Comments (0)
You must be logged in to add a comment