Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC2634 Cultoquhey, Perthshire (Gilmerton)

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

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HER:  Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust MPK844 (None)

NMR:  NN 82 SE 20 (25441)

SM:  2995

NGR:  NN 8905 2359

X:  289050  Y:  723590  (OSGB36)

Summary

This fort occupies the eastern end of a low elongated hillock that rises up at the foot of the hillside to the NW of Cultoquhey. Roughly pear-shaped on plan, its interior measures about 80m from NW to SE by a maximum of 35m transversely towards the NW end (0.21ha). The ground falls away steeply along the NE margin of the summit area, while elsewhere the defences probably comprise three ramparts with intermediate ditches, though the innermost appears as no more than the scarp of the massive inner ditch, which is in the order of 10m in breadth and 2.5m in depth where it cuts across the spine of the hillock on the NW. The position of the entrance is uncertain, but at the NW end the plan drawn up by RCAHMS in 1960 shows the ramparts stopping short of the edge of the steep escarpment. The interior is featureless.

Status

Citizen Science:  

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -422887  Y:  7636763  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -3.798857806359575  Latitude:  56.391564081970515  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Perth & Kinross

Historic County:  Perthshire

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Fowlis Wester

Monument Condition

None

Condition:
Extant  
Cropmark  
Likely Destroyed  

Land Use

None

Current Use:
Woodland  
Commercial Forestry Plantation  
Parkland  
Pasture (Grazing)  
Arable  
Scrub/Bracken  
Bare Outcrop  
Heather/Moorland  
Heath  
Built-up  
Coastal Grassland  
Other  

Landscape

Hillfort Type

None

Type:
Contour Fort  
Partial Contour Fort  
Promontory Fort  
Hillslope Fort  
Level Terrain Fort  
Marsh Fort  
Multiple Enclosure Fort  

Topographic Position

Position:
Hilltop  
Coastal Promontory  
Inland Promontory  
Valley Bottom  
Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop  
Ridge  
Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp  
Hillslope  
Lowland  
Spur  

Dominant Topographic Feature:  None

Aspect:
North  
Northeast  
East  
Southeast  
South  
Southwest  
West  
Northwest  
Level  

Altitude:  115.0m

Boundary

N/A


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

Principal Activity:
Pre 1200BC  
1200BC - 800BC  
800BC - 400BC  
400BC - AD50  
AD50 - AD400  
AD400 - AD 800  
Post AD800  
Unknown  

Other Activity:
Pre Hillfort:   None
Post Hillfort:   Planted with trees

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

None

Investigations:
1st Identified Map Depiction (1863):   Annotated Roman Outpost in Roman type on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Perth and Clackmannan 1866, sheet 95.8)
Other (1899):   Description by David Christison, who believed the ramparts and ditches cut off the W end of the hillock (1900, 56)
Other (1942):   Description by Angus Graham and Gordon Childe for the RCAHMS wartime Emergency Surveys
Other (1956):   Description for RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands
Earthwork Survey (1960):   Plan for RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands (RCAHMS DC5381)
Other (1966):   Resurveyed at 1:2500 by the OS
Other (1970):   Scheduled

Interior Features

Featureless

Water Source

None

Source:
None  
Spring  
Stream  
Pool  
Flush  
Well  
Other  

Surface

None

Interior Features (Surface):
No Known Features  
Round Stone Structures  
Rectangular Stone Structures  
Curvilinear Platforms  
Other Roundhouse Evidence  
Pits  
Quarry Hollows  
Other  

Excavation

None

Interior Features (Excavation):
No Known Excavation  
Pits  
Postholes  
Roundhouses  
Rectangular Structures  
Roads/Tracks  
Quarry Hollows  
Other  
Nothing Found  

Geophysics

None

Interior Features (Geophysics):
No Known Geophysics  
Pits  
Roundhouses  
Rectangular Structures  
Roads/Tracks  
Quarry Hollows  
Other  
Nothing Found  

Finds

None

Interior (Finds):
No Known Finds  
Pottery  
Metal  
Metalworking  
Human Bones  
Animal Bones  
Lithics  
Environmental  
Other  

Aerial

Obscured by trees

Interior Features (Aerial):
APs Not Checked  
None  
Roundhouses  
Rectangular Structures  
Pits  
Postholes  
Roads/Tracks  
Other  

Entrances

See main summary

Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts:  
1:   None

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   None

Guard Chambers:  

Chevaux de Frise:  

Entrances:
1. Simple Gap (North west):   None

Enclosing Works

Up to three ramparts with intermediate ditches

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.21ha.
Total:   0.21ha.

Total Footprint Area:  Noneha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   None

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✗   None

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   0
SE Quadrant:   3
SW Quadrant:   2
NW Quadrant:   3
Total:   3

Morphology

Current Morphology:
Partial Univallate  
Univallate  
Partial Bivallate  
Bivallate  
Partial Multivallate  
Multivallate  
Unknown  

Detailed Morphology:
Partial Univallate  
Univallate  
Partial Bivallate  
Bivallate  
Partial Multivallate  
Multivallate  

Surface Evidence

None

Enclosing Works (Surface):
None  
Earthen Bank  
Stone Wall  
Rubble  
Wall-walk  
Evidence of Timber  
Vitrification  
Other Burning  
Palisade  
Counter Scarp Bank  
Berm  
Unfinished  
Other  

Excavated Evidence

None

Enclosing Works (Excavation):
None  
Earthen Bank  
Stone Wall  
Murus Duplex  
Timber-framed  
Timber-laced  
Vitrification  
Other Burning  
Palisade  
Counter Scarp Bank  
Berm  
Unfinished  
No Known Excavation  
Other  

Other

Gang Working:
✗   None

Ditches:
✓   None

Number of Ditches:  2

Annex:
✗   None

References

Christison, D (1900) 'The forts, "camps", and other field-works of Perth, Forfar and Kincardine'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 34 (1899-1900), 43-120

Marshall, W (1881) Historic scenes in Perthshire. Edinburgh (p 300)



Terms of Use

This work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 and should be cited as:

Lock, Gary and Ralston, Ian. 2024. Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland. Available at: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk


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