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Symington Hillhead Fort is an Iron Age fort located 350 metres south of Fountainhall in Midlothian, Scotland. The monument occupies ground underlain by the Gala Group wacke, a hard sedimentary bedrock formed during the Telychian period of the Silurian geological timescale. This solid stone foundation would have provided a stable base for the construction and occupation of the fort during the Iron Age.
The fort's position in the rolling landscape of Midlothian places it within a region rich in prehistoric settlement remains. The choice of location reflects the strategic considerations typical of Iron Age fortified sites in southeast Scotland, where elevated ground offered defensive advantages and opportunities for territorial control.
The site is protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland under the reference SM1179, recognising its archaeological significance as evidence of Iron Age settlement and social organisation in the Scottish Borders region. The fort represents the material remains of communities who inhabited this landscape over two thousand years ago, their defensive architecture and settlement choices shaped by the demands of agriculture, trade and security in the pre-Roman Iron Age.
Symington Hillhead,fort 350m S of,Fountainhall is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM1179. View the official record →
Symington Hillhead Fort is an Iron Age fort located 350 metres south of Fountainhall in Midlothian, Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM1179.
Symington Hillhead,fort 350m S of,Fountainhall dates from the iron age period, and is classified as a fort 350m s of,fountainhall. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Symington Hillhead,fort 350m S of,Fountainhall is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic Environment Scotland — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Scotland. The official designation reference is SM1179.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Cortleferry, scooped settlement 400m NW of (2.2 km), Nether Shiels, enclosure 350m NW of (2.2 km), Watherston,fort (2.2 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Symington Hillhead,fort 350m S of,Fountainhall's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Symington Hillhead,fort 350m S of,Fountainhall stands on Gala Group, bedrock that formed in the Telychian. The rock here is wacke.