Historic Sites

West Dunbartonshire has been occupied by various tribes from the Stone Age to the present. Evidence of their presense is still visible in several sites around West Dunbartonshire.

Sheet Hill Fort
Sheep Hill Fort occupies the summit of Sheep Hill, NS 434 744, which, when excavated, showed that a small vitrified fort was replaced by a larger fort measuring 80 m by 48 m with an additional enclosure on a lower terrace to the south

Dunbowie Dun
Dumbowie Dun, NS 434 744, is located on the summit of Dumbowie, a steep sided hill looking south west over the River Clyde. An excavation in the late 19th, Century yielded bone implements, stone pounders, whetstones, perforated stones and parts of two rotary querns.

Dumbuck Crannog The Crannog at Dumbuck, NS 415 739, was discovered in the River Clyde about 1.5 km east south east of Dumbarton Rock. Excavation in 1898 revealed timber piles enclosing an area 15.2 m in diameter on which there was a flooring of horizontal timbers. Supports for a superstructure were also apparent.

The remains of a stone break-water encircled the crannog and a causeway linked it to a 'dock-like structure' containing a dug-out canoe. Read about crannogs and how they were used.

Roman Period
There is no evidence of Roman occupation on the Overtoun site itself but there was a fort at Old Kilpatrick, the Western Terminal fort of the Antonine Wall. There must have been a lot of Roman activity in the area, as this fort was very important for a time in the second half of the 2nd century AD.

Antonine Wall The Antonine Wall stretched from Old Kilpatrick on the Firth of Clyde to ... on the firth of Forth. Not as substantial as Hadrian's Wall there are still some traces to be seen in Bearsden and Falkirk. Read about the history and construction of the Antonine Wall...