Medieval History
The hilltop of Abbey Craig is best-known as the site of the National Wallace Monument, which commemorates the 13th-century Battle of Stirling Bridge. But while the Scottish commander William Wallace reportedly watched the armies of Edward I massing from the rocky outcrop before his famous victory in 1297, the site might have witnessed another violent clash several centuries earlier.
A hillfort comprising a single oval bank with another rampart 30m further down the slope, was first recorded on the summit in the 18th century. Originally interpreted as the camp of Wallace?s troops, recent investigations revealed the structure was much older, as charcoal recovered from the inner rampart returned a radiocarbon date of AD 560-730.
Stirling Council Archaeology Officer Murray Cook, who in September led a community excavation at the site, said this means the fort could have been one of the main centres of the Gododdin, a Britonnic people who lived in northeast England and southern Scotland. Part of this tribe formed the kingdom of Manaw, which local place names such as Clackmannan and Slamannan suggest could have included the area around Abbey Craig. But this high-status settlement also appears to have come to a dramatic end, destroyed by a fire so intense that its stones fused together.
Click here to read this article from Current Archaeology
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Medieval History
Abbey Craig ? a burning question
The hilltop of Abbey Craig is best-known as the site of the National Wallace Monument, which commemorates the 13th-century Battle of Stirling Bridge. But while the Scottish commander William Wallace reportedly watched the armies of Edward I massing from the rocky outcrop before his famous victory in 1297, the site might have witnessed another violent clash several centuries earlier.
A hillfort comprising a single oval bank with another rampart 30m further down the slope, was first recorded on the summit in the 18th century. Originally interpreted as the camp of Wallace?s troops, recent investigations revealed the structure was much older, as charcoal recovered from the inner rampart returned a radiocarbon date of AD 560-730.
Stirling Council Archaeology Officer Murray Cook, who in September led a community excavation at the site, said this means the fort could have been one of the main centres of the Gododdin, a Britonnic people who lived in northeast England and southern Scotland. Part of this tribe formed the kingdom of Manaw, which local place names such as Clackmannan and Slamannan suggest could have included the area around Abbey Craig. But this high-status settlement also appears to have come to a dramatic end, destroyed by a fire so intense that its stones fused together.
Click here to read this article from Current Archaeology
- Anglo-saxon Treasures Uncovered At Polesworth Abbey Dig
Anglo-Saxon treasures which date back as far as 700AD have been unearthed during a major archaelogical dig at a historic North Warwickshire site. Dating back almost 1,200 years, Polesworth Abbey, near Tamworth, a Scheduled Ancient Monument, is steeped...
- Glass Discovered At Glastonbury Abbey Dates Back To 7th Century, Researchers Find
New research led by the University of Reading has revealed that finds at Glastonbury Abbey provide the earliest archaeological evidence of glass-making in Britain. Professor Roberta Gilchrist, from the Department of Archaeology, has re-examined the records...
- Academic Says William Wallace Was Rebellion 'co-leader'
William Wallace was no more than a "co-leader" in events which sparked a Scottish uprising against Edward I in 1297, a historian has claimed. Professor Dauvit Broun argues that the killing of the Sheriff of Lanark was as much down to a knight called Richard...
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A group of historians and archivists will be taking a closer look at a letter widely believed to have been in the possession of the medieval Scottish warrior Sir William Wallace. Scotland's Culture Minister Fiona Hyslop has asked the Keeper of the...