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Archaeology Notes

Event ID 690098

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/690098

NO55SW 1.00 514 535

NO55SW 1.01 NO 5132 5345 Stone Lamp

See also NO55SW 23-9, 34-5, 61-3, 65 and 69.

(NO 514 535) Kemp's Castle (NAT)

Forts (NR)

OS 6" map, (1969)

An Iron Age complex consisting of two forts and three possible duns.

The first phase of occupation is represented by an oval fort (NO 514 535) measuring 274m by 122m, within a double earth and stone rampart 4m to 5m broad and 0.2m to 2.5m high, which has possible entrances 4m to 5m wide in the north and east. It is possible that this fort was unfinished (Feachem 1963).

The outer rampart is visible only as a slight swelling in the east and as a 6.0m wide swelling where it joins the cliff on the west, but can be traced for the whole of its course except for a 6.0m break in the west. The inner rampart is easily traceable except on the west where it has been mutilated by the construction of the overlying second phase fort whose west end coincides with that of the earlier fort.

This secondary fort (NO 513 534) is a smaller single-walled structure measuring 152.4m by 39.6m internally. The wall is generally 4m broad and 0.5m high and may have been timber-laced. It is barely traceable on the NW and is confused in the SE where the east rampart appears to over- shoot the south. An entrance in the east wall makes use of a natural elevation.

The central 'dun' (NO 5133 5348) partly overlies the wall of the secondary fort and is circuler, 27.4m in diameter within a stone wall 3.6m thick and 0.9m high which has been partly restored.

The eastern 'dun' (NO 5147 5355) lies within the primary fort and consists of two concentric banks of earth and stone; the outer 30.0m in diameter and 0.3m to 1.3m high: and the inner 17.0m in diameter and 0.3m high.

The western 'dun' (NO 5120 5344) lies outwith the forts, and is 30m E-W by 26m N-S within a single bank of earth and stones 5m to 6m broad and 1.7m in maximum height. It has been considerably mutilated but mounds and hollows in the interior may be the remains of huts.

Feachem (1955) shows two additional banks, the first running from NO 5156 5368 to NO 5166 5362, and the other from NO 5157 5355 to NO 5158 5349. The first is an earthen bank 5m broad and 1m high which is probably later than the forts and does not appear to be of defensive character. The second is visible only as a vague unsurveyable swelling. The name Kemps Castle (apostrophe added by later hand) is a late addition to the Ordnance Survey Name Book (ONB 1859) of Rescobie parish but no authority could be found for it in Aberlemno parish (ONB 1861). New Statistical Account (NSA 1845) calls it 'Camp Castle' and an 1806 estate map 'Kemp Castle'.

Visited by OS (JLD) 25 August 1958.

R W Feachem 1955; 1963; Name Book 1859; 1861; NSA 1845.

NO 514 535 A detailed survey of the extensive suite of archaeological features on the summit of Turin Hill was undertaken, and instances of damage or erosion to these remains were recorded. Turin Hill displays a remarkable range of enclosures and obviously has a long history of use. The earliest identifiable remains on the site appear to be a large bivallate fort, with associated outworks, which is replaced by a smaller oval fort, overlain by a stone-built dun. The remains of two other less well-preserved duns, situated to the E and W, are likely to be of roughly the same date. These duns have also been classified as homesteads or ring-forts. Many of the features on Turin Hill have been recorded on earlier plans but this survey also located remains of possible roundhouses and numerous quarry scoops. Although the precise date of the features cannot be determined without excavation, the remains suggest that settlement is likely to have spanned from at least the Late Bronze Age into the Early Historic period with later quarrying activity in the Middle Ages.

A detailed report will be lodged with the NMRS.

Sponsors: Historic Scotland, University of Edinburgh.

D Alexander 1998

People and Organisations

References