Black Hill: More than just a Viewpoint

Part of the Mapping the Past trail

The National Trust viewpoint at Black Hill is celebrated as being one of the best places to view the Clyde and Avon Valley. However Black Hill is also the location of a later prehistoric settlement and it is possible that people would have been living here as far back as 1000
BC.

Aerial view of Black Hill.

As you walk up the hill you will first encounter a large grass covered rampart, which encloses up to three house platforms, which are typical late Bronze Age (c. 1500BC – 800BC) settlements in the southern uplands of Scotland. Attached to this first enclosed space is a much larger enclosure, often referred to as a fort. This possible later addition to the hill is probably of Iron Age date (c.800BC – 300AD). The grass covered rocky rampart encloses a massive area of 3.1Ha and is one of the largest hilltop sites in the area. Within the enclosure are a number of possible house platforms.

Visiting the Trig Point on Black HIll.

At the northern end of the enclosure is the Trig Point, which sits on top of a possible Bronze Age cairn, offering panoramic views of the region. If the mound on which the Trig Point is a Bronze Age cairn, then there may be burials within it, meaning that the hill was also an important place to bury the dead in the past.

This listing was created as part of the Mapping the Past project, managed by Northlight Heritage and delivered by CAVLP Heritage. Explore the site as part of the Mapping the Past trail (see right).