Geograph - photograph every grid square

Dumbowie Hill has two summits: NS4275 : Dumbowie Hill: north-western summit and NS4275 : Dumbowie Hill: south-eastern summit.

This photograph shows the south-eastern hilltop, which is the higher of the two. It is the site of a small Iron Age hill-fort; the fort is usually listed as Dumbuie Dun (rather than Dumbowie, the name of the hill).

Its stone walls, 4m thick, cannot be seen directly, since they lie beneath the grass, but their course can be discerned by their effect on the growth of the grass on the summit: the result is a circular track, where the grass is a little shorter.

See the Canmore link in the end-note for the fort's dimensions, and other details. This photo shows most of the portion of the summit that the fort encompasses. For example, the gently curving track of shorter grass at the bottom of the photo is the near side of the circular course of the walls, while the far edge of the summit, as it appears here, is the other side of the fort.

The site was excavated in 1895. Some genuine early iron age objects, including implements of bone and stone, were located there, along with other objects which aroused suspicion at the time, and which are now considered to be forgeries.

See also NS4275 : Dumbuie Dun for further information, and for a different view of the summit.

I later returned to obtain better wide-angle views of the summit area: NS4275 : Dumbuie Dun / NS4275 : Dumbuie Dun.

As for the background of the photo, a part of nearby NS4274 : Dumbuck Quarry can be seen to the extreme right; to the left, a little further away, are the wooded fringes of the Kilpatrick Hills; the River Clyde can be seen in the distance.

[On the name of the hill, the book "Changing Identities / Ancient Roots - a History of West Dunbartonshire from Earliest Times" says: "from Gaelic 'dùn buidhe', 'yellow hill-fort', buidhe 'yellow' probably because it was covered in gorse for at least part of the Gaelic-speaking period". Having climbed and descended the steep face of the hill to inspect this site, I can vouch for the fact that its slopes are thickly covered in spiny gorse bushes even to this day.]