SC2614: Mid Torrie, 'The Auld Knowe' | (Wester Torrie; Callander) |
Sources: Esri, DigitalGlobe, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, GeoEye, USDA FSA, USGS, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, and the GIS User Community
HER: Stirling 293
NMR: NN 60 SE 1 (24378)
SM: 3199
NGR: NN 6526 0480
X: 265260 Y: 704800 (EPSG:27700)
Boundary: ✗
What may be the remains of a fort enclose an elongated ridge that rises above the river terrace on the S bank of the River Teith. The rampart, which is largely reduced to a scarp but is accompanied by an external ditch cut through the rock on the spine of the ridge on the NW, can be traced on an irregular course around the gentler flanks on the SE, SW and NW to enclose an area measuring a maximum of 70m from NW to SE by 38m transversely (0.19ha). At the SE end an outer rampart encloses a further area of about 0.08ha on a lower terrace. The ramparts have been severely mutilated and several tracks cut through them on the SE, the SSW and the W. That on the SSW is evidently later, and while the gap on the W is set in a shallow re-entrant, the one running up the spine of the ridge through gaps in both ramparts on the ESE is quite likely to mark the position of the original entrance. Within the interior, on the very summit of the ridge, there is a probable dun or broch, though its wall is now reduced to a grass-grown mound enclosing an area about 15m in maximum diameter. The interior of the fort is otherwise featureless.
| Citizen Science: | ✗ |
| Reliability of Data: | Confirmed |
| Reliability of Interpretation: | Unconfirmed: | Falls a little below the 0.2ha threshold |
X: -464685 Y: 7601673 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -4.174337 Latitude: 56.216683 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Stirling
Historic County: Perthshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Kilmadock
| Extant: | ✓ |
| Cropmark: | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed: | ✗ |
| Woodland: | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation: | ✗ |
| Parkland: | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing): | ✓ |
| Arable: | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken: | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop: | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland: | ✗ |
| Heath: | ✗ |
| Built-up: | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
| Contour Fort: | ✓ |
| Partial Contour Fort: | ✗ |
| Promontory Fort: | ✗ |
| Hillslope Fort: | ✗ |
| Level Terrain Fort: | ✗ |
| Marsh Fort: | ✗ |
| Multiple Enclosure Fort: | ✗ |
| Hilltop: | ✗ |
| Coastal Promontory: | ✗ |
| Inland Promontory: | ✗ |
| Valley Bottom: | ✗ |
| Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop: | ✓ |
| Ridge: | ✗ |
| Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp: | ✗ |
| Hillslope: | ✗ |
| Lowland: | ✗ |
| Spur: | ✗ |
Dominant Topographic Feature: ✗
| North: | ✗ |
| Northeast: | ✗ |
| East: | ✗ |
| Southeast: | ✗ |
| South: | ✗ |
| Southwest: | ✗ |
| West: | ✗ |
| Northwest: | ✗ |
| Level: | ✓ |
Altitude: 76.0m
| Boundary Type: | ✗ |
Second HER: ✗
Second Current County or Unitary Authority: ✗
Second Historic County: ✗
Second Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: ✗
In the absence of excavation, there are neither stratified artefacts nor radiocarbon dates to provide a chronology for the defences.
Reliability: D - None
| Pre 1200BC: | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC: | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC: | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50: | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400: | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800: | ✗ |
| Post AD800: | ✗ |
| Unknown: | ✓ |
| Pre Hillfort Activity: | ✗ |
| Post Hillfort Activity: | ✓ | A dun or broch has been inserted into the interior, heavy stone robbing |
| None: | No details. |
The RCAHMS collection contains oblique aerial photographs taken by: CUCAP; John Dewar in 1971; and RCAHMS Aerial Survey Programme in 1998.
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1862): | Annotated Roman Camp in Roman Type on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Perth and Clackmannan 1866, sheet 124.6) |
| Other (1902): | Sketch-plan and description by David Christison (1902) |
| Other (1957): | Description for RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands (RCAHMS) |
| Earthwork Survey (1960): | Plan (RCAHMS DC5404) |
| Other (1972): | Scheduled |
| Other (1978): | Visited during RCAHMS Fieldwork |
Featureless apart from the dun or broch
| None: | ✓ |
| Spring: | ✗ |
| Stream: | ✗ |
| Pool: | ✗ |
| Flush: | ✗ |
| Well: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
A dun or broch
| No Known Features: | ✗ |
| Round Stone Structures: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Stone Structures: | ✗ |
| Curvilinear Platforms: | ✗ |
| Other Roundhouse Evidence: | ✗ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✓ |
| No Known Excavation: | ✓ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Postholes: | ✗ |
| Roundhouses: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures: | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks: | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
| Nothing Found: | ✗ |
| No Known Geophysics: | ✓ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Roundhouses: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures: | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks: | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
| Nothing Found: | ✗ |
| No Known Finds: | ✓ |
| Pottery: | ✗ |
| Metal: | ✗ |
| Metalworking: | ✗ |
| Human Bones: | ✗ |
| Animal Bones: | ✗ |
| Lithics: | ✗ |
| Environmental: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
The dun or broch
| APs Not Checked: | ✗ |
| None: | ✗ |
| Roundhouses: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures: | ✗ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Postholes: | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✓ |
See main summary
| Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts: | 3 |
| Number of Possible Original Entrances: |
Guard Chambers: ✗
| Chevaux de Frise: | ✗ |
| Entrance 1 (Southeast): | Simple Gap |
Single rampart extending round the ridge, with an ecternal ditch at one end and an outer rampart at the other
| Enclosed Area 1: | 0.19ha. |
| Enclosed Area 2: | ✗ |
| Enclosed Area 3: | ✗ |
| Enclosed Area 4: | ✗ |
| Total Enclosed Area: | 0.2ha. |
Total Footprint Area: ✗
| Multi-period Enclosure System: | ✗ |
| Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit: | ✗ |
| Number of Ramparts: | 2 |
| Number of Ramparts NE Quadrant: | ✗ |
| Number of Ramparts SE Quadrant: | 2 |
| Number of Ramparts SW Quadrant: | 1 |
| Number of Ramparts NW Quadrant: | 1 |
| Partial Univallate: | ✓ |
| Univallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate: | ✓ |
| Bivallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate: | ✗ |
| Multivallate: | ✗ |
| Unknown: | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate: | ✗ |
| Univallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate: | ✗ |
| Bivallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate: | ✗ |
| Multivallate: | ✗ |
| None: | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank: | ✓ |
| Stone Wall: | ✗ |
| Rubble: | ✗ |
| Wall-walk: | ✗ |
| Evidence of Timber: | ✗ |
| Vitrification: | ✗ |
| Other Burning: | ✗ |
| Palisade: | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank: | ✗ |
| Berm: | ✗ |
| Unfinished: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
| None: | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank: | ✗ |
| Stone Wall: | ✗ |
| Murus Duplex: | ✗ |
| Timber-framed: | ✗ |
| Timber-laced: | ✗ |
| Vitrification: | ✗ |
| Other Burning: | ✗ |
| Palisade: | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank: | ✗ |
| Berm: | ✗ |
| Unfinished: | ✗ |
| No Known Excavation: | ✓ |
| Other: | ✗ |
| Gang Working: | ✗ |
Ditches: ✓
| Number of Ditches: | 1 |
| Annex: | ✗ |
Christison, D (1902) 'Notices of an ancient fort and stone circle at Wester Torrie, near Callander, Perthshire'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 36 (1901-2), 614-18
Atlas of Hillforts: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk/?query=Atlas_of_Hillforts_4166_0%2CMain_Atlas_Number%2C2614
Wikidata: http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q31109847
The online version of the Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland should be cited as:
Lock, G. and Ralston, I. 2017. Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland. [ONLINE] Available at: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.