Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC3719 Arthur's Seat, Midlothian (Edinburgh, Holyrood Park, Arthur's Seat; Queen's Park; Crow Hill)

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

HER:  City of Edinburgh No record found (None)

NMR:  NT 27 SE 93 (52561)

SM:  13032

NGR:  NT 2764 7282

X:  327644  Y:  672823  (OSGB36)

Summary

Arthur's Seat, the steep and craggy hill at the core of Holyrood Park in Edinburgh, is apparently the site of a large fort, though defences have only been been identified barring access to its upper slopes on the E, principally blocking access up a broad gully into the saddle between the summit on the NW and Crow Hill on the SE, and extending across the E face of Crow Hill above the system of cultivation terraces. The other flanks, which are steep but by no means inaccessible, were apparently left open and the size of the interior can be only roughly estimated at some 8.5ha. The defences comprise two ramparts, which on the floor of the gully both form substantial terraces overlain by later field-banks, and there is a possible entrance at the foot of a hillock on its NW side. In 1995 excavation along the line of the footpath to the summit of Arthur's Seat uncovered a band of rubble belonging to the inner extending NW from the hillock to the lip of the slope, while a section cut across its line on the hillock revealed that it was spread at least 5.4m in thickness by up to 1.2m in height (Alexander 1997). A possible round-house has been tentatively identified on the SE side of the gully a short distance up the slope from the inner ramaprt, but in view of the general absence of such features from the rest of the interior this feature is perhaps unrelated to the use and occupation of the fort.

Status

Citizen Science:  

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -351773  Y:  7547082  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -3.1600310987162317  Latitude:  55.943027901163475  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  City of Edinburgh

Historic County:  Midlothian

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Edinburgh

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:  251.0m

Boundary

N/A


Dating Evidence

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:   Overlain by agricultural post-medieval enclosures and cultivation. An OS triangulation station and a viewpoint are set on the summit

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

Photographed by RCAHMS Aerial Survey Programme as part of the more general recording of the archeology of the park.

Investigations:
Earthwork Survey (1947):   Plan and description by Robert Stevenson (1947, 168-9, fig 3; RCAHMS 1951, 247-8, no.208, fig 429)
1st Identified Map Depiction (1966):   OS 6-inch map
Other (1975):   Revised at 1:2500 by the OS
Other (1994):   Scheduled
Excavation (1995):   By Derek Alexander for CFA Archaeology (Alexander 1995; 1997)
Other (1998):   description and mapping by RCAHMS (1999)

Interior Features

One possible round-house but otherwise 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

A range of stray finds have been recovered from Arthur's Seat, including: a microlith (RCAHMS Canmore 295832); a polished stone axe (RCAHMS Canmore 157276), a leaf-shaped flint arrowhead (RCAHMS Canmore 157208), a barbed-and-tanged flint arrowhead (RCAHMS Canmore 273412) part of a socketed bronze axe (RCAHMS Canmore 52461), and an inhumation in a cist with a rotary quern (RCAHMS Canmore 52122).

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

Aerial

NO APPARENT FEATURES

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 east):   None

Enclosing Works

Two ramparts around the NE and E flanks

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   8.5ha.
Total:   8.5ha.

Total Footprint Area:  Noneha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   None

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✗   None

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

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:  None

Annex:
✗   None

References

Alexander, D (1995) 'Arthur's Seat (City parish of Edinburgh), fort rampart'. Disc Exc Scot (1995), 54

Alexander, D (1997) 'Excavation on Arthur's Seat fort, Edinburgh, 1995'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 127 (1997), 595-600

Feachem, R W (1963) A guide to prehistoric Scotland. Batsford: London (p 135)

RCAHMS (1951) The Royal Commission on the Ancient Monuments of Scotland. An inventory of the ancient and historical monuments of the city of Edinburgh with the thirteenth report of the Commission. HMSO: Edinburgh

RCAHMS. (1999) The Royal Commission on the Ancient Monuments of Scotland. Holyrood Park: the archaeology of the Royal Park, RCAHMS Broadsheet 6. RCAHMS: Edinburgh

Stevenson, R B K (1947) 'Farms and fortifications in the King's Park, Edinburgh'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 81 (1946-7), 158-70



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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