Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland
Sources: Esri, DigitalGlobe, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, GeoEye, USDA FSA, USGS, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, and the GIS User Community
HER: Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust MPK828
NMR: NN 82 NE 5 (25423)
SM: ✗
NGR: NN 8621 2588
X: 286217 Y: 725884 (EPSG:27700)
Boundary: ✗
Summary
This fort occupies the W angle of Skirley Craigs, which falls away in a precipitous cliff on the NW and SW. The defences comprise three ramparts, all reduced to stony scarps, which have been drawn in an arc across the NE and SE approaches. The roughly oval interior formed between the defences and the cliff-edge measures about 80m from NE to SW by a maximum of 40m transversely (0.23ha) and is featureless. There is a clearly defined entrance on the E, which forms a deep passage some 15m in length through the defences, but the OS observed that this appeared to post-date the slighter middle rampart, proposing two phases of construction in which the middle rampart represented the first period of construction. Furthermore they noted a gap between the terminals of the ramparts and the cliff-edge on the NW, suggesting that this was the position of the earlier entrance.
Status
| Reliability of Data: | Confirmed | |
| Reliability of Interpretation: | Confirmed | |
Location
X: -428104 Y: 7640771 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -3.84572 Latitude: 56.411489 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Perth & Kinross
Historic County: Perthshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Crieff
Condition
| Extant: | ✓ |
| Cropmark: | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed: | ✗ |
Land Use
Old plantation reverted to moorland
| Woodland: | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation: | ✗ |
| Parkland: | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing): | ✓ |
| Arable: | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken: | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop: | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland: | ✓ |
| Heath: | ✗ |
| Built-up: | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
Landscape
Hillfort Type
| Contour Fort: | ✗ |
| Partial Contour Fort: | ✗ |
| Promontory Fort: | ✓ |
| Hillslope Fort: | ✗ |
| Level Terrain Fort: | ✗ |
| Marsh Fort: | ✗ |
| Multiple Enclosure Fort: | ✗ |
Topographic Position
| Hilltop: | ✓ |
| Coastal Promontory: | ✗ |
| Inland Promontory: | ✓ |
| Valley Bottom: | ✗ |
| Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop: | ✗ |
| Ridge: | ✗ |
| Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp: | ✗ |
| Hillslope: | ✗ |
| Lowland: | ✗ |
| Spur: | ✗ |
Dominant Topographic Feature: ✗
Aspect
| North: | ✗ |
| Northeast: | ✗ |
| East: | ✗ |
| Southeast: | ✗ |
| South: | ✗ |
| Southwest: | ✗ |
| West: | ✗ |
| Northwest: | ✗ |
| Level: | ✓ |
Elevation
Altitude: 340.0m
Boundary
Second HER: ✗
Second Current County or Unitary Authority: ✗
Second Historic County: ✗
Second Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: ✗
Dating Evidence
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: | ✓ |
| Post Hillfort Activity: | ✓ | Planted with trees |
Interior Features
Featureless
Water Source
| None: | ✓ |
| Spring: | ✗ |
| Stream: | ✗ |
| Pool: | ✗ |
| Flush: | ✗ |
| Well: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
Surface
| No Known Features: | ✓ |
| Round Stone Structures: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Stone Structures: | ✗ |
| Curvilinear Platforms: | ✗ |
| Other Roundhouse Evidence: | ✗ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
Excavation
| No Known Excavation: | ✓ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Postholes: | ✗ |
| Roundhouses: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures: | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks: | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
| Nothing Found: | ✗ |
Geophysics
| No Known Geophysics: | ✓ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Roundhouses: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures: | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks: | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
| Nothing Found: | ✗ |
Finds
| No Known Finds: | ✓ |
| Pottery: | ✗ |
| Metal: | ✗ |
| Metalworking: | ✗ |
| Human Bones: | ✗ |
| Animal Bones: | ✗ |
| Lithics: | ✗ |
| Environmental: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
Aerial
NO APPARENT FEATURES
| APs Not Checked: | ✗ |
| None: | ✓ |
| Roundhouses: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures: | ✗ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Postholes: | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
Entrances
See main summary
| Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts: | 2 | |
| Number of Possible Original Entrances: | 1: | One entrance in each of two phases |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Enclosing Works
arc of three ramparts cutting off access
| Enclosed Area 1: | 0.23ha. |
| Enclosed Area 2: | ✗ |
| Enclosed Area 3: | ✗ |
| Enclosed Area 4: | ✗ |
| Total Enclosed Area: | 0.2ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 0.37ha.
| Multi-period Enclosure System: | ✗ | |
| Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit: | ✗ | |
| Number of Ramparts NE Quadrant: | 3 |
| Number of Ramparts SE Quadrant: | 3 |
| Number of Ramparts SW Quadrant: | ✗ |
| Number of Ramparts NW Quadrant: | ✗ |
Current Morphology
| Partial Univallate: | ✗ |
| Univallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate: | ✗ |
| Bivallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate: | ✓ |
| Multivallate: | ✗ |
| Unknown: | ✗ |
Multi-period Morphology
| Partial Univallate: | ✗ |
| Univallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate: | ✗ |
| Bivallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate: | ✗ |
| Multivallate: | ✗ |
Surface Evidence
| None: | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank: | ✓ |
| Stone Wall: | ✗ |
| Rubble: | ✗ |
| Wall-walk: | ✗ |
| Evidence of Timber: | ✗ |
| Vitrification: | ✗ |
| Other Burning: | ✗ |
| Palisade: | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank: | ✗ |
| Berm: | ✗ |
| Unfinished: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
Excavated Evidence
| None: | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank: | ✗ |
| Stone Wall: | ✗ |
| Murus Duplex: | ✗ |
| Timber-framed: | ✗ |
| Timber-laced: | ✗ |
| Vitrification: | ✗ |
| Other Burning: | ✗ |
| Palisade: | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank: | ✗ |
| Berm: | ✗ |
| Unfinished: | ✗ |
| No Known Excavation: | ✓ |
| Other: | ✗ |
References
