Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC3019 Kemp's Hold, Perthshire (Craig of Stenton; King's Hole)

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

Scroll left/right to view further images.

HER:  Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust MPK2416 (None)

NMR:  NO 04 SE 11 (27118)

SM:  6122

NGR:  NO 0671 4066

X:  306710  Y:  740660  (OSGB36)

Summary

This small fortification is situated on a rocky spine rising abruptly above the N bank of the River Tay above Stenton. Precipitous on this side, and with a broad gully separating it from the ridge to the NE, the fort is irregular on plan, measuring internally 82m from ESE to WNW by a maximum of 27m transversely at the WNW end (0.12ha). A stony rampart can be traced round most of the summit area, in some places forming a mound spread 4m in thickness by 0.8m in height, but in others reduced to a scarp some 1.5m in external height. Three outer ramparts, each with an internal quarry ditch, cut across the NW end of the spine and the inner of these has also been drawn onto a rocky terrace that runs the length of the NNE flank below the main rampart. This terrace appears to be a cut feature, truncating the N end of a ditch at the SW tip of the fort. The ditch, which is some 4m in breadth by 0.7m in depth, is broken by a central causeway and is assumed to be an outwork to the fort at this end, rather than the perimeter of an earlier promontory enclosure cutting off the tip of the spine. Despite the identification of a 'hut-circle' by Gordon Childe in 1942, the interior is largely featureless and was probably originally entered from the SW.

Status

Citizen Science:  ✗

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -391735  Y:  7668429  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -3.5190183606523373  Latitude:  56.54868872420606  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Perth & Kinross

Historic County:  Perthshire

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Caputh

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:  125.0m

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:   Overlain by constructed pathways

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

None

Investigations:
1st Identified Written Reference (1777):   'Weapons' dug up when the trees were first planted (Stat Acct ix, 1793, 504)
1st Identified Map Depiction (1783):   Annotated 'Old Fort' on James Stobies map of The counties of Perth and Clackmannan (1783)
Other (1864):   Named in Gothic type on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Perth and Clackmannan 1867, sheet 62.11)
Other (1942):   Description by Angus Graham and Gordon Childe for the RCAHMS wartime Emergency Surveys
Other (1974):   Surveyed at 1:2500 by the OS
Earthwork Survey (1989):   Plan and description (RCAHMS DC25085-7; RCAHMS 1994, 51, 53)
Other (1994):   Scheduled

Interior Features

Featurelss apart from constructed pathways

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:  
0:   None

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   Not visible but probably from the SW

Guard Chambers:  ✗

Chevaux de Frise:  ✗

Entrances:No related records

Enclosing Works

Single rampart around the crest, and three others with internal ditches on the WNW, and a ditch on the ESE

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.12ha.
Total:   0.12ha.

Total Footprint Area:  Noneha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   None

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✓   None

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   1
SE Quadrant:   1
SW Quadrant:   1
NW Quadrant:   4
Total:   4

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

Grass-grown rubble

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:
✓   At one end

Number of Ditches:  3

Annex:
✗   None

References

No related records



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


Document Version 1.1