Poznaj lokalne zabytki


Wyraź zgodę na lokalizację i oglądaj zabytki w najbliższej okolicy

Zmień ustawienia przeglądarki aby zezwolić na pobranie lokalizacji
This website is using cookies. Learn more.

Conical hillfort - Zabytek.pl

Address
Kowalowice

Location
woj. opolskie, pow. namysłowski, gm. Namysłów - obszar wiejski

In the Middle Ages, the hillfort in Kowalowice was probably a watch station, or perhaps a customs house as the area was the frontier between Silesia and Wielkopolska.

History

The results of survey examination indicate that the hillfort can be dated back to the late middle ages (14th-15th century).

Location and description

The fort is located on the edge of the right bank bench of the Studnica River, a tributary of the Widawa River, about 1200 m south (with a deviation to the east) of the southern exit from the village of Kowalowice, about 300 m east of a dirt road from Kowalowice to Michalice. In the local tradition, this place is called “the trenches.”

The local survey in 1967 showed that it had been a three-part structure. The first part was the central oval yard measuring about 26 meters in the base and about 17-18 m at the top. It was surrounded by a rampart and moat of about 3 m in width. Another part was a flat elevation south-west of the yard and rampart; the third part was a mound on the south-east side of the yard. They were separated from the inner part with a rampart. They were enclosed with an external rampart from the east, south and north. Today, the described system is illegible. Only the central part - the cone - is clearly exhibited against the surrounding area. It has about 30 m in diameter and about 2 m in height; it is moated (4 to 8 m). Currently, the yard and moat are overgrown with grass.

Condition and results of archaeological research

The survey examination of the hillfort were undertaken already in the 19th century. A surface study was carried out by J. Kaźmierczyk and Z. Trudzik in 1957 and a survey by Z. Bagniewski and K. Macewicz in 1967 and 1971. They found several dozen fragments of vessels and pugging on the yard. The researchers were of the opinion that the fort in Kowalowice was a well-developed and used structure. The usable space may have been as extensive as about 300 m2. Parts two and three, of the area of about 1,500 m2, probably formed a utility space. However, it is also possible that the site was a permanent customs house on the east-west trade route, also serving the north-bound road to Opole. The state of conservation of the fort is satisfactory. In 1989, a contour plan was drawn up.

The fort is located in the area held by a private owner. It can be reached by a boundary strip leading from a dirt road from Kowalowice to Michalice, about 300 m east of the place where the Schedlitz mill used to stand. The site is clearly visible against the landscape. Beavers are frequent guests in the former watermill pond.

Compiled by Krzysztof Spychała, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Opole, 11-12-2014.

Bibliography

  • Hellmich M., Schlesische Wehranlagen, [w:] Altschlesien, t.3, 1930, s.39;
  • Antoniewicz W., Wartołowska Z., Mapa grodzisk w Polsce, 1964, s.42;
  • Bagniewski Z., Sprawozdanie z badań weryfikacyjnych w powiecie namysłowskim, [w:] Terenowe badania archeologiczne na Opolszczyźnie rok 1967, 1967, s.36;
  • Kaźmierczyk J., Macewicz K., Wuszkan S., Studia i materiały do osadnictwa Opolszczyzny wczesnośredniowiecznej, 1977, s.221-224;
  • Wojewódzkie Archiwum Państwowe we Wrocławiu, akta zespołu Wydział Samorządowy Prowincji Śląskiej we Wrocławiu, sygn. 738, teczka Kowalowitz, s.3,7, 114, 123;
  • Archiwum Wojewódzkiego Urzędu Ochrony Zabytków w Opolu teczka nr A-141/68 oraz Karta Ewidencji Stanowiska Archeologicznego Kowalowice nr  5, AZP 80-35/12;
  • Archiwum Muzeum Śląska Opolskiego w Opolu, teczka Kowalowitz.

Category: hillfort

Protection: Register of monuments, Monuments records

Inspire id: PL.1.9.ZIPOZ.NID_A_16_AR.9406, PL.1.9.ZIPOZ.NID_E_16_AR.1043138