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<< Our Photo Pages >> Castle Law - Hillfort in Scotland in Midlothian

Submitted by nicoladidsbury on Monday, 15 October 2007  Page Views: 18071

Iron Age and Later PrehistorySite Name: Castle Law Alternative Name: Castlelaw; Castle Law (Glencorse)
Country: Scotland County: Midlothian Type: Hillfort
Nearest Town: Penicuik  Nearest Village: Easter Howgate
Map Ref: NT2290063870  Landranger Map Number: 66
Latitude: 55.861822N  Longitude: 3.233394W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
 4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 4 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
 4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
 5

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Anne T visited on 15th Jul 2018 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4 Castle Law Hillfort, Glencorse: First stop of the day, and I was surprised this hill fort was so close to a modern military firing range. Because of its proximity to Edinburgh, there were a few other people parked in the small car park below the fort, but very few walked up onto it; a track carried on up the hill. The earth house was very unusual, with steps leading down into it, and a narrow, curving passage leading into it. About half way down, a small doorway leads into a circular chamber. We searched, and found, the cup marked stone towards the eastern wall of the terminus. If other stones had been put on top of this, the cups couldn’t have been seen. It was difficult to capture the cups (and some micro-cups?) in the dim lighting, even using flash and a torch, and had me giggling with our efforts to get a good photograph. We walked round the inner defences of the fort, admiring the shooting range below, then carried on up the hill to what was left of the palisaded settlement. Walking up the hill to this site gave us an excellent view down on to the hillfort.

HChavez visited - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 3 Access: 4

schwagmyre nicoladidsbury have visited here

Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 3.5 Ambience: 3.5 Access: 4

Castle Law
Castle Law submitted by nicoladidsbury : Castlelaw Hillfort - this photo shows the earth banks and terraces of the hill fort. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Hillfort in Mid Lothian.

Well signposted and accessible by a five minute walk from the car park, the ramparts of this hill fort are well preserved. Unusually the material from the fort was reused to construct a souterrain, which can be investigated.

Further information can be found on Canmore ID 51871 which contains extensive archaeology notes and also lists the position of 9 boundary markers and a cup marked stone.
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Castle Law
Castle Law submitted by Anne T : This panorama was taken from further up the track leading to Castle Knowe Palisaded Settlement, looking down on the fort from a bend in the track. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Castle Law
Castle Law submitted by nicoladidsbury : Castlelaw Hillfort - antechamber room. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Castle Law
Castle Law submitted by nicoladidsbury : There is quite a long passage in the souterrain. It has been roofed in concreate with glass windows letting in light. It's a really interesting place to visit. There is a small antechamber halfway along the passage. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Castle Law
Castle Law submitted by nicoladidsbury : Castlelaw Hillfort - Souterrain This is the entrance into the Soutrerrain. The info sign suggest it was built during the 2nd Century and may have been built as a grain store, as it was created during the Roman occupation, perhaps to store the grain that formed part of their taxes. (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

Castle Law
Castle Law submitted by vagabondnma : The rest of the info for Castle Law. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Castle Law
Castle Law submitted by vagabondnma : Inside the 'Earth House'/Hill Fort. This is looking towards one of the rooms off the main passageway.

Castle Law
Castle Law submitted by Anne T : An ordinary photograph of the fort, taken from Castle Knowe Palisaded Settlement.

Castle Law
Castle Law submitted by Anne T : A better photograph of the cup marked stone, but one which does not show up the cups (and possible peck marks) so well. If you go looking for it, the stone is on your left hand side, on the top course of stones, towards the end of the passageway. It took us a while to find, but the light of a torch helped to bring out the cups.

Castle Law
Castle Law submitted by Anne T : I apologise for the blurriness of this image, but its the one which shows the cups in the cup marked rock best of all the photos I took. Canmore's description reads: "A cup marked stone is built into the top of the E wall at the terminal. The full dimensions of the stone cannot be determined, but it measures about 0.45m in width by 0.25m in thickness, and its slightly convex upper surface bears f...

Castle Law
Castle Law submitted by Anne T : The entrance into the souterrain, which was driven into quarry-ditch of the outer ramparts of the fort (see Canmore 51871).

Castle Law
Castle Law submitted by Anne T : Inside the inner round chamber, which has no internal source of light. Canmore tells us this chamber measures about 3.6m in diameter and up to 1.95m in height.

Castle Law
Castle Law submitted by Anne T : About half way along the passage, on your right hand side, is a low doorway, capped by a lintel. Kneeling down, there is a more or less circular chamber. The ground here was slightly damp, even after a considerable dry spell. I was wearing very light beige linen trousers, (the knees of) which were a much darker brown, stained with green, after I couldn't resist the urge to crawl inside and take...

Castle Law
Castle Law submitted by Anne T : Just inside the tunnel to the souterrain, which has been covered over with modern materials, with skylights to let light in to see. The original walls still come about half way up the present structure. According to Canmore: "The passage measures about 21m in length from N to S and gradually widens from 0.9m at the entrance at the N end to about 1.6m at the slightly rounded terminal on the S. The ...

Castle Law
Castle Law submitted by Anne T : Standing to the west of the souterrain roof structure, looking over the southern part of the outer defences, which I understand have been turned into cultivation terraces since the fort fell out of disuse.

Castle Law
Castle Law submitted by Anne T : The skies weren't as blue as when NicolaDidsbury visited, but it was still hot, and a slight breeze was very welcome. This is standing towards the western end of the hillfort, looking west.

Castle Law
Castle Law submitted by Anne T : If I've got my orientations correct, this is a view over the outer defensive bank and ditch on the north western side of the fort.

Castle Law
Castle Law submitted by vagabondnma : The informative info outside the Hill Fort.

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 192m NNE 27° Castle Knowe (Glencorse)* Ancient Village or Settlement (NT22996404)
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"Castle Law" | Login/Create an Account | 5 News and Comments
  
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Re: Castlelaw hillfort by coldrum on Sunday, 11 April 2010
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Re: Iron Age protection from Castlelaw hillfort by Anonymous on Tuesday, 16 September 2008
Castle Law was of the the capitals of Pictish nation which pre-date the invading Scots & Celts from Ireland, who usurpered the whole of Scotland in the 8th centuary AD. Long after the romans left the UK in the 6th centuary.
The Pictish Chronical lists the annuls of Kings, many of whom resided in this fort, & govererned in nearby Scone. The Picts are noted as one of the few armies to defeat the Romans during occupation, at Nechtanmereshire, near Castle Law, which ultimatly lead to the Romans creating Hadrians wall, for thier northeren border, well south of the Pictish nation.
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Re: Iron Age protection from Castlelaw hillfort by Anonymous on Tuesday, 16 October 2007
What a great site, I hadn't seen this one before.
Thanks for the pictures. I love souterrains.
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Re: Iron Age protection from Castlelaw hillfort by vagabondnma on Sunday, 11 March 2007
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A Great site - easily accessible, signposted, parking - really great views! Plus, you can go INSIDE it! It's all been reconstructed, though it is difficult to decide just what you are looking at. But when you are in there it reminds me of a passage grave - I know it isn't!
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Iron Age protection from Castlelaw hillfort by Andy B on Wednesday, 21 June 2006
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AT SOME point in the centuries leading up to the birth of Christ, a prominent spur of the Pentlands, the hill range outside Edinburgh, was enclosed by a timber palisade. This wooden structure was designed to provide a defensive barrier for the local Iron Age in habitants. It was the beginning of what became Castlelaw Hillfort.

The Iron Age was a time of considerable unrest between local groups as people competed for land and cattle. New weapons led to different techniques of warfare, aided by the advent of iron which could be mass-produced relatively simply and cheaply. In addition, there was a new threat to the Celtic tribes as they faced up to the menace posed by the northward march of the Romans. A fort like this may not have been permanently occupied, but it would provide shelter for many people and their herds in times of danger.

With time, the defences were altered and improved. The first change was to construct a single rampart of earth and clay, reinforced by an internal timber framework around the entrance. Later, apparently just before the arrival of Roman troops in AD79 or 80, two additional ramparts and rock-cut ditches were added to strengthen the fort.

There is no record of the people who built and defended this site, nor of how successful they were, but we know that the fort continued in use over the centuries. After some two hundred years, when defence was no longer a prime concern, a substantial souterrain was constructed using the space of the ditch between the two later ramparts. This is now capped by a concrete roof and may be entered in much the same way as first designed some two thousand years ago.

More: http://heritage.scotsman.com/places.cfm?id=880992006
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