Dornock
Barrow(S) (Prehistoric), Cropmark(S) (Period Unknown), Rig And Furrow (Medieval) - (Post Medieval), Square Barrow(S) (Iron Age), Temporary Camp (Roman)
Site Name Dornock
Classification Barrow(S) (Prehistoric), Cropmark(S) (Period Unknown), Rig And Furrow (Medieval) - (Post Medieval), Square Barrow(S) (Iron Age), Temporary Camp (Roman)
Alternative Name(s) Dornock Farm; River Earn
Canmore ID 25290
Site Number NN81NE 14
NGR NN 8788 1895
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/25290
- Council Perth And Kinross
- Parish Crieff
- Former Region Tayside
- Former District Perth And Kinross
- Former County Perthshire
NN81NE 14 8782 1901
See also NN81NE 15, NN81NE 26, NN81NE 46 and NN81NE 70.
A Roman temporary camp was identified from the air in 1962 on the farm of Dornock, within a loop of the river (NN 879 190). Almost the whole of the SE side, 1,150' in length, 875' of the SW side, and about half that length of the NE have been identified, together with the rounded S angle. The NW side has been destroyed by river erosion. Two trial sections revealed a V-shaped ditch, 8 1/2' wide and only 2 1/2' deep.
J K St Joseph 1965
There are no surface traces of this temporary camp.
Surveyed from APs and ground control at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (RD) 17 May 1967
(Name: NN 8782 1901) ROMAN CAMP (R) (site of)
OS 25" map (1969)
Probably Flavian. Recent APs have revealed the W angle, the SW gate centrally placed in its side, and the matching NE gate. The axial dimensions are thus established as 1,175' NE-SW by 850', giving an area of 23 1/2 acres.
J K St Joseph 1969
Aerial photographs of this Roman camp have also been taken by the RCAHMS in 1977, 1978 and 1979.
(Undated) information in NMRS.
Scheduled as Dornock, ring-ditches and Roman temporary camp.
Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 3 March 2000.
Aerial Photographic Transcription (6 December 1995 - 16 July 1996)
An aerial transcription was produced from oblique aerial photographs. Information from Historic Environment Scotland (BM) 31 March 2017.
Field Visit (26 March 1997)
NN81NE 14 8782 1901
Cropmarking on oblique aerial photographs (RCAHMSAP and CUCAP) reveal the ditch of a Roman temporary camp (EARNAP 109) situated on a ridge in a meander of the River Earn some 350m E of Dornock farmsteading. The camp is orientated from NW to SE along the axis of the ridge and its perimeter has been recorded on the NE, SE and SW. The ridge on the NW side has been cut back to a steep scarp by the river, removing almost all of the NW side and about half of the NE end of the camp. The camp measures about 350m by 270m within the ditch; in the region of 9.5ha or 23.5 acres. Gaps set centrally in both ends may have been entrances.
A sharp natural scarp runs from NNW to SSE across the camp, together with the line of the disused railway, which cuts through the higher, NE, end. The aerial photographs show that the flat ground to the SW of the scarp is covered with rig (EARNAP 114), measuring about 8m between furrows. The rig is aligned with the camp and respects the SW side, the SE end and the natural scarp to the NE. An ill-defined macula (EARNAP 113, NN 8789 1900) probably overlain by the rigs may have been a round house or a barrow.
On slight rises within the SW end of the camp, the cropmarks also reveal the ditches of at least two round barrows (EARNAP 110, NN 8777 1895 and EARNAP 111, NN 8782 1893), and two conjoined square barrows (EARNAP 112, NN 8785 1885). The two round barrows measure about 5m and 8m across respectively and their ditches enclose central burial pits. What may be a third round barrow (not transcribed) is situated immediately outside the entrance through the SW end of the camp. The square barrows are situated within the S angle of the camp and are conjoined on a NE to SW axis, thus sharing the same orientation as the camp. Each measures about 9m across and a burial-pit can be seen in the NE one.
(EARNAP 109-14)
Visited by RCAHMS (DCC) 26 March 1997.
Publication Account (17 December 2011)
This camp is situated some 2km north-west of the fort at Strageath, in a meander of the River Earn. First recorded in 1962 by St Joseph from the air as a cropmark (1965: 81), it sits on the axis of a ridge and measures 350m from north-east to south-west by about 274m transversely, although most of the north-west side and part of the north-east have been removed by a steep scarp. The area enclosed is almost 9.5ha (23 acres). Entrance gaps are known in the south-east and south-west sides, with a possible further gap close to the centre of the northeastside. Excavations in 1962 recorded that the ditch was V-shaped, about 2.6m wide and 0.75m deep (St Joseph 1965: 81).
R H Jones
