Ballencrieff Hill · Cairnpapple Hill
2 classifications here — Marilyn and HuMP — belong to lists OpenFell holds only part of, so they have no list page. See how far the coverage goes.
- Height
- 312 m · 1,024 ft
- Prominence
- 167.9 m
- Grid reference
- NS 98755 71148
- Coordinates
- 55.92276, -3.62175
- County / area
- West Lothian
- OS Landranger
- 65
- OS Explorer
- 349E
- Summit feature
- no feature 5m NE of trig point
- Key col
- NT 0048 6796 (144.1 m)
About Ballencrieff Hill
Cairnpapple Hill occupies a commanding position in central lowland Scotland, with views reaching coast to coast from its 312 m summit about 3 km north of Bathgate. Its interest is chiefly archaeological: the site was used and reused for ritual over roughly 4,000 years, on a scale comparable in its day to the Standing Stones of Stenness.
Trees completely hid the site during the 19th century. Excavations by Stuart Piggott in 1947 and 1948 uncovered a sequence of ritual monuments from successive prehistoric periods, and Gordon Barclay reinterpreted the evidence for Historic Scotland in 1998. The hill is a scheduled ancient monument, and it also serves as the historic county top of West Lothian.
Background written from facts in the Wikipedia article on Cairnpapple Hill (CC BY-SA 4.0). Heights, prominence and grid references come from the Database of British & Irish Hills, not from Wikipedia.
Access rights here
Yes Right to roam: Statutory right of responsible access to most land and inland water.
Yes Wild camping: Wild camping is broadly lawful under the 2003 Act.
General position for Scotland — local byelaws, seasonal restrictions and closures can override it. Full details: access rights in Scotland · check another location.
Daylight at this summit today
- Sunrise
- —
- Sunset
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- Daylight
- —
- Civil twilight ends
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Computed astronomically for 55.923, -3.622. Plan your finish with the daylight safety planner.
Summit weather live
Loading forecast for the summit (312 m)…
Forecast adjusted to summit altitude. Weather data from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0).
Finding the summit
trig point is located in a small depression; ground to 10m NE of trig point is c 5cm higher; large mound 140m E at NS 98896 71144 is c 1.5m lower; viewpoint 300m E at NS 99062 71126 is c 2.5m lower.
The recorded summit point is no feature 5m NE of trig point. That distinction matters on broad or flat tops, where the obvious cairn is not always the true high point.
- Survey method
- Abney level
- Record revised
- 28-Mar-21
- Drop measured from
- NT 0048 6796 · 144.1 m
Survey notes are field observations recorded in the Database of British & Irish Hills (v18.3, CC BY 4.0) by the hill-surveying community.
Nearest listed peaks
| Peak | Height | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| King's Seat Hill | 648 m | 29.3 km |