Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC3171 Danes' Camp, Links Wood, Fife (Camp Wood)

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

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HER:  Fife Council None (None)

NMR:  NO 42 NW 11 (33114)

SM:  806

NGR:  NO 4132 2508

X:  341320  Y:  725080  (OSGB36)

Summary

This fort is situated on a low ridge on the NE side of the public road from Wormit to Leuchars, due S of Flass Home Farm. Oval on plan, it measures about 91m from ESE to WNW by at least 37m transversely (0.27ha) within a belt of defences some 30m deep, for most of the circuit comprising three ramparts with intermediate ditches; a third ditch accompanies the outermost rampart on the crest of the ridge on the WNW. The innermost rampart, however, has been reduced to little more than a scarp, and this peters out on the crest of the steep slope forming the NNE margin of the interior. Well-defined entrances with causeways across the ditches are roughly opposed at either end, that on the ESE placed on the crest of the ridge, while that on the W lies towards its SW margin. The interior is featureless.

Status

Citizen Science:  

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -328689  Y:  7641345  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -2.952663886240677  Latitude:  56.41433859585674  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Fife

Historic County:  Fife

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Forgan

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:  30.0m

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 (1854):   Annotated Fort on the 1st edition OS 6-inch map (Fife 1855, sheet 2)
Other (1893):   Depicted on the OS 25-inch map (Fifeshire 1894, 4.6)
Earthwork Survey (1925):   Plan and description (RCAHMS 1933, 151, no.269, fig 295; RCAHMS FID 30/1-2)
Other (1935):   Scheduled
Other (1951):   Visited during RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands
Other (1964):   Visited by the OS
Other (1974):   Revised at 1:2500 by the OS

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:  
2:   None

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   None

Guard Chambers:  

Chevaux de Frise:  

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

Enclosing Works

Three ramparts with intermediate ditches, and an outer ditch on the WNW

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.27ha.
Total:   0.27ha.

Total Footprint Area:  Noneha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   None

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✓   None

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   3
SE Quadrant:   3
SW Quadrant:   3
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:
✓   Three at one end, two elsewhere

Number of Ditches:  3

Annex:
✗   None

References

RCAHMS (1933) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions of Scotland. Eleventh report with inventory of monuments and constructions in the counties of Fife, Kinross, and Clackmannan. HMSO: Edinburgh



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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