LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
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HER: Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust MPK382 (None)
NMR: NN 74 NE 30 (24911)
SM: 9156
NGR: NN 7790 4764
X: 277900 Y: 747640 (OSGB36)
This fort occupies a rocky knoll that forms the NE shoulder of Drummond Hill and terminates in precipitous slopes on the NE and SE. Roughly rectangular on plan, the interior measures a maximum of 80m from NE to SW by 65m transversely (0.5ha), backing onto the cliff-edge on the NE and SE, and defended by an inner wall on the NW and SW. This wall measures between 2.9m and 3.3m in thickness where both faces are visible at the W corner, the outer still standing 1.8m in height; in 1957 Kenneth Steer observed the inner face at numerous other places, but these exposures have since disappeared beneath the vegetation. In addition to the inner wall, there is an outer wall, which probably extends from the edge of the escarpment on the SE and along the SW flank, where there is also an earthwork defence in the bottom of the shallow saddle separating the fort from the ground rising on to the crest of Drummond Hill, and round the W corner onto the NW flank. The most recent survey, however, observed its remains only on the NW, interpreting it as a small annexe, whereas Alexander Hutcheson in 1888 (1889, 359-62, fig 4) and Kenneth Steer in 1957 considered that it faced onto the saddle on the SW. Nevertheless, all are agreed that there is a small annexe on the N, extending along the edge of the cliff and measuring internally about 45m from N to S by 35m transversely. A possible entrance leads from the fort into the annexe, raising the possibility that rather than annexe as such, this is an outer defence around the entrance. The ditch on the W, which is up to 10m in breadth by 1.6m in depth, probably enhances a natural gully in the saddle, which may explain why there are only slight traces of an accompanying bank towards the SE end of its inner lip.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -444236 Y: 7679759 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -3.9906427188476097 Latitude: 56.60475262479279 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Perth & Kinross
Historic County: Perthshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Dull
None
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
Clearing in a Forestry Commission plantation
| Woodland | ✓ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✗ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✓ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| Contour Fort | ✓ |
| Partial Contour Fort | ✗ |
| Promontory Fort | ✓ |
| Hillslope Fort | ✗ |
| Level Terrain Fort | ✗ |
| Marsh Fort | ✗ |
| Multiple Enclosure Fort | ✗ |
| Hilltop | ✗ |
| Coastal Promontory | ✗ |
| Inland Promontory | ✓ |
| Valley Bottom | ✗ |
| Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop | ✓ |
| Ridge | ✗ |
| Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp | ✗ |
| Hillslope | ✗ |
| Lowland | ✗ |
| Spur | ✓ |
Dominant Topographic Feature: None
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✓ |
Altitude: 340.0m
N/A
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 | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50 | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400 | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800 | ✗ |
| Post AD800 | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✓ |
| Pre Hillfort: | None |
| Post Hillfort: | None |
None
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1842): | Description (NSA 10, Perthshire, 769); also anonymous notes (RCAHMS MS3076) |
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1862): | Annotated 'Fort (Site of)' on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Perth and Clackmannan 1867, 48.15), albeit placed in the wrong position |
| Earthwork Survey (1888): | Sketch-plan by Alexander Hutcheson (1889, 359-62, fig 4) |
| Other (1899): | Description by David Christison (1900, 69-71) |
| Earthwork Survey (1957): | Sketch-plan and description for RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands (RCAHMS WP000782; Feachem 1963, 147) |
| Other (1974): | Surveyed at 1:10,000 by the OS |
| Other (2001): | Scheduled |
| Earthwork Survey (2010): | Plan and description by Headland Archaeology Ltd (2010) |
Featureless
None
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Under old plantations
| No Known Features | ✓ |
| Round Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Rectangular Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Curvilinear Platforms | ✗ |
| Other Roundhouse Evidence | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| No Known Excavation | ✓ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
| Nothing Found | ✗ |
None
| No Known Geophysics | ✓ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
| Nothing Found | ✗ |
None
| No Known Finds | ✓ |
| Pottery | ✗ |
| Metal | ✗ |
| Metalworking | ✗ |
| Human Bones | ✗ |
| Animal Bones | ✗ |
| Lithics | ✗ |
| Environmental | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
NO APPARENT FEATURES
| APs Not Checked | ✗ |
| None | ✓ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
See main summary
| 0: | None |
| 2: | Position of the entrance is uncertain, though a gap on the N leads into the annexe |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (North): | Leads from the fort into the annexe |
Single wall on two side, probably with an outer wall and a small annexe, and with an outer earthwork defence
| Area 1: | 0.5ha. |
| Total: | 0.5ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 1.4ha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SW Quadrant: | 3 |
| NW Quadrant: | 2 |
| Total: | 3 |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✓ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✓ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
None
| None | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank | ✓ |
| Stone Wall | ✓ |
| Rubble | ✗ |
| Wall-walk | ✗ |
| Evidence of Timber | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✗ |
| Berm | ✗ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| None | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank | ✗ |
| Stone Wall | ✗ |
| Murus Duplex | ✗ |
| Timber-framed | ✗ |
| Timber-laced | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✗ |
| Berm | ✗ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| No Known Excavation | ✓ |
| Other | ✗ |
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | None |
Number of Ditches: None
| ✓ | There is a small annexe on the N, extending along the edge of the cliff and measuring internally about 45m from N to S by 35m transversely (0.14ha). |
Christison, D (1900) 'The forts, "camps", and other field-works of Perth, Forfar and Kincardine'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 34 (1899-1900), 43-120
Feachem, R (1963) A guide to prehistoric Scotland. Batsford: London
Hutcheson, A (1889) 'Notes on the stone circle near Kenmore and of some hill forts in the neighbourhood of Aberfeldy, Perthshire'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 23 (1888-9), 356-67
NSA (1834-1845) The new statistical account of Scotland by the ministers of the respective parishes under the superintendence of a committee of the society for the benefit of the sons and daughters of the clergy.
Atlas of Hillforts:
Wikidata:
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
Document Version 1.1