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Note
Date 30 April 2015 - 31 August 2016
Event ID 1044503
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Note
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1044503
This fort occupies the summit of Down Hill, a steep-sided hill commanding the S end of the route through the Ochils via Glen Devon. The defences have two main components: an elongated inner enclosure on the summit of the hill; and an outer enclosure with at least two ramparts extending round the contour lower down the slope. The inner enclosure is roughly coffin-shaped on plan, its interior measuring 65m from NW to SE by up to 26m transversely (0.14ha), but its perimeter is largely obscured by the wall of a stock enclosure, which first makes its appearance on the 1st edition of the OS 25-inch map published surveyed in 1894-5 (Kinrosshire 1896, sheet 17.13). The OS noted that on the SE the outer defences comprise three ramparts with intermediate ditches, though only the two outer are clearly visible on aerial photographs, their stony scarps extending along the flanks on the NE and SW round on to the steeper NW. Roughly oval on plan, the precise extent of this enclosure is not recorded, but it measures at least 85m from NW to SE by 45m transversely (0.38ha). There are two entrances, one with a trackway climbing obliquely up the slope to the summit from the N apex of the outermost circuit, and the other on the SE. While the OS suggest that the outer defences are a secondary addition to the inner enclosure, no evidence is advanced to support this case and it appears as likley that the inner is an insertion into an earlier fort.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 31 August 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC2993
