Publication Account

Date 1963

Event ID 1105800

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Publication Account

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1105800

This fort occupies a promontory at the SW extremity of the plateau formed by the shifting of the bed of the River Tay, and occupied for the most part by its ephemeral neighbours, the Roman fort and camp. It is remarkable for having provided some of the earliest evidence for all-timber defences in Scotland. This consisted of a palisade trench running across the tail of the promontory accompanied by a ditch, both elements being found when a trench was dug into the fort in 1901. The area demarcated by the palisade and the rim of the promontory measured about 200 ft (60.9m) by 100 ft (30.5m) along the principal axes. This was doubled at some time after the Romans had abandoned their ambitious works on the main part of the plateau (NO13NW 5.00, 5.01, 5.02, 5.07 and 5.08), when as many of five ramparts and ditches were thrown across the neck of the promontory. The defended area now measured about 250 ft (76.2m) athwart the promontory and 150 ft (45.7m) along it. The defences occupied a space some 300 ft (91.4m) in width by 200 ft (60.9m) in length. Great numbers of the blocks of Gourdie stone used by the Romans to face their rampart were taken and used in this remarkable work. A hole was made in the middle of the enclosure in 1901, revealing what appeared to be part of the paved floor of a circular house.

R W Feachem 1963.