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Publication Account
Date 17 December 2011
Event ID 923333
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/923333
The camp at Longforgan was discovered from the air by St Joseph in the late 1960s (St Joseph 1969: 111), sited on a low ridge on the south side of the Sidlaw Hills, west of the village of Longforgan. The camp at Invergowrie lies just over 4km to the east, and the Firth of Tay some 3km to the south. The ground on which the camp lies drops away to the Lochsprout Burn to the north.
Parts of all four sides are known through the cropmark record, and the camp measures 622m from north-east to south-west by 408m transversely, enclosing 25ha (62 acres). An annexe is visible on the south-west side, measuring some 136m by 114m and enclosing a further 1.5ha (3.7 acres). Entrance gaps are visible in the cropmark on the north-east and south-west sides; on the south-east side a is protected by a titulus, and a second was identified by excavation on the north-east side.
Excavations have been conducted on various occasions by St Joseph. On the north-east side, the ditch was V-shaped, measuring up to 3m in width and 1.3m in depth with a drainage channel in the bottom. A later drain cut through the ditch. The entrance gap was about 16m in width, and a titulus was recorded 13m from the camp with a V-shaped ditch 2.4m in width and 0.9m in depth (RCAHMS St Joseph Collection: Notebook 4). Elsewhere, the ditch was up to 3m wide and 1.4m deep (RCAHMS St Joseph Collection: Notebooks 5 and 8; St Joseph 1970b: 38).
Later excavations in 1994 by Neighbour recorded that the ditch of the annexe was up to 0.6m in depth and up to 1m in width (Keppie 1995: 332). Analysis of particle size within the fill suggested that the ditch was backfilled fairly quickly, although it was not possible to say whether this was owing to deliberate backfilling or rapid weathering. A small circular scoop of uncertain date or function was recorded in the interior of the annexe, but no datable material was recovered (Neighbour 1998).
R H Jones.
