Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC2640 Loaninghead, Perthshire

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

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HER:  Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust MPK1270 (None)

NMR:  NN 90 NW 1 (25903)

SM:  7593

NGR:  NN 9238 1005

X:  292388  Y:  710054  (OSGB36)

Summary

This fort occupies a low hillock within the W angle of the motorway interchange with the A823 public road to Gleneagles. The defences comprise three ramparts with intermediate ditches, which have probably encircled the whole hillock, though the outer ramparts have been levelled by cultivation on the SW flank, and the inner has been reduced to little more than a scarp. The oval interior measures about 70m from NW to SE by 35m transversely (0.19ha); in 1967 the OS noted traces of a ring-ditch house some 16.5m in diameter in the SE half, and there is probably a second immediately within the line of the rampart on the SSE. They also suggested that the entrance on the SE is blocked by the outer rampart, and that there were possibly traces of a second entrance on the W.

Status

Citizen Science:  

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -416254  Y:  7612510  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -3.7392759123647745  Latitude:  56.27078003706803  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Perth & Kinross

Historic County:  Perthshire

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Blackford

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:  155.0m

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 (1783):   Annotated Camp on James Stobie's map of The Counties of Perth and Clackmannan (1783)
Other (1792):   Noted (Stat Acct 3, 1792, 210)
Other (1860):   Annotated Roman Camp in Roman type on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Perth and Clackmannan 1866, sheet 118.9)
Earthwork Survey (1899):   Sketch-plan and description by David Christison (1900, 54-6, fig 16)
Other (1956):   Noted during RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands
Other (1967):   Resurveyed at 1:2500 by the OS
Other (2000):   Scheduled
Other (2015):   Visited by S Halliday

Interior Features

Possible ring-ditch houses

Water Source

None

Source:
None  
Spring  
Stream  
Pool  
Flush  
Well  
Other  

Surface

Ring-ditch houses

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:   Only one certain break

Guard Chambers:  

Chevaux de Frise:  

Entrances:
1. Simple Gap (South east):   None

Enclosing Works

Triple ramparts with intermediate ditches

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.19ha.
Total:   0.19ha.

Total Footprint Area:  Noneha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   None

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✓   There were probably three on the SW but this sector is heavily degraded.

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   3
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

Stat Acct (date) Statistical Account of Scotland: Drawn up from the Communications of the Ministers of the Different Parishes (Sinclair, J ed), 1791-99



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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