Pricing Change
New pricing for orders of material from this site will come into place shortly. Charges for supply of digital images, digitisation on demand, prints and licensing will be altered.
Upcoming Maintenance
Please be advised that this website will undergo scheduled maintenance on the following dates:
Thursday, 30 January: 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
During these times, some functionality such as image purchasing may be temporarily unavailable. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Castle Dow
Fort (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Castle Dow
Classification Fort (Period Unassigned)
Alternative Name(s) Caisteal Dubh
Canmore ID 26356
Site Number NN95SW 14
NGR NN 9294 5132
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/26356
- Council Perth And Kinross
- Parish Logierait
- Former Region Tayside
- Former District Perth And Kinross
- Former County Perthshire
NN95SW 14 9294 5132.
(NN 9294 5132) Castle Dow (NR) (Site of supposed Pictish Fort) (NAT)
OS 6" map, Perthshire, 2nd ed., (1902)
A fort, situated on the summit of Caisteal Dubh measures 97.0m NW-SE x 64.0m. The defences consist of a boulder-faced rubble wall, about 3.0m thick, which has completely disappeared along the top of a cliff on the east. An annexe measuring 85.0m NW-SE x 26.0m abuts onto the SW corner of the fort. The wall, of similar construction to that of the fort though slightly narrower is also visible as tumble. Outside this wall further defence is provided by a turf-covered earth-and- stone rampart with traces of a ditch at its eastern end. The entrance through this rampart and annexe wall is in the south and measures c. 2.0m wide while the entrance to the fort is from the annexe in the NE corner and measures about 3.0m wide. There are no internal structures apart from a modern sheep fold which has almost certainly been built from the stones of the fort.
Surveyed at 1/10,000 scale.
A Hutcheson 1889; Visited by OS (R D) 22 February 1970.
The main wall averages 3.5m in width, increasing to 5.8m at the entrance in the W. Traces of wall core can still be seen along the top of the cliff in the NE. The annexe wall averages 2.6m in width. Both walls have been subject to quarrying particularly in the W and N.
There is evidence of an outer face or revetment to the rampart, which may well be an unfinished outwork.
Surveyed at 1:10,000
Visited by OS (A A) 19 March 1975.
Field Visit (29 May 1957)
This site was included within the RCAHMS Marginal Land Survey (1950-1962), an unpublished rescue project. Site descriptions, organised by county, are available to view online - see the searchable PDF in 'Digital Items'. These vary from short notes, to lengthy and full descriptions. Contemporary plane-table surveys and inked drawings, where available, can be viewed online in most cases - see 'Digital Images'. The original typecripts, notebooks and drawings can also be viewed in the RCAHMS search room.
Information from RCAHMS (GFG) 19 July 2013.
Field Visit (9 January 2013 - 10 January 2013)
NN 9295 5130 A measured survey was carried out, 9–10 January 2013, of the fort which is mostly covered by dense heather. The fort is defended by largely collapsed stone ramparts and an annexee is located on the SW side. A modern stone dyke cuts across the fort, which has been damaged by the construction of a sheepfold across the W part of the annexee, and the construction of c15 marker cairns on the E rampart. Recent felling of trees on the S and W sides has created a better view of the fort from a distance. The monument appears to be very stable with few signs of any significant damage, the only issues being minor erosion scars in the footpath leading into and across the fort.
Archive: RCAHMS
Funder: Forest Trust – Forestry Commission Scotland
Sorina Spanou and Magnar Dalland, Headland Archaeology Ltd, 2013
(Source: DES)
Note (6 January 2015 - 18 May 2016)
This fort is situated on the summit of Caisteal Dubh, which overlooks Balnaguard from the SW, and now lies in a clearing in extensive forestry. The main component of the fort is an oval enclosure on the summit measuring about 97m from NW to SE by 64m transversely (0.5ha) within a wall some 3m in thickness, though this has all but disappeared along the crag that falls away on the NE. In addition an annexe has apparently been added on the SW, abutting the main wall and forming a crescentic enclosure measuring a maximum of 85m in length by 26m in depth (0.22ha) within a rather narrow wall no more than 2.6m thick. Both walls have been robbed, but in 1957 the faces were still visible at various point along the circuit. On the SW and S of the annexe there is a relatively slight outer wall, the line of which is taken up towards the E by a shallow ditch. The interior of both the fort and the annexe are now featureless, and a circular structure about 4.5m across noted by Alexander Hutcheson and David Christison in the annexe has presumably been razed by the construction of a large sheepfold with stones robbed from the walls. The entrance into the fort is marked by a gap in the wall on the W immediately NW of the annexe, which itself has a possible entrance on the SE.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 18 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC2666
