Gold Castle
Barrow (Prehistoric)(Possible), Enclosure (Period Unknown), Saddle Quern (Neolithic) - (Bronze Age)
Site Name Gold Castle
Classification Barrow (Prehistoric)(Possible), Enclosure (Period Unknown), Saddle Quern (Neolithic) - (Bronze Age)
Alternative Name(s) Sherrifftown; Broxy Kennels; Silver Castle; Golden Castle; Donald's Bank
Canmore ID 26735
Site Number NO02NE 26
NGR NO 0966 2788
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/26735
- Council Perth And Kinross
- Parish Scone
- Former Region Tayside
- Former District Perth And Kinross
- Former County Perthshire
NO02NE 26 0964 2788.
(NO 0964 2788) Gold Castle (NAT) Earthwork (NR) (site of)
OS 1:10000 map (1971)
A ploughed-down quadrilateral enclosure of three bank-and-ditch sides abutting on the Tay, with an entrance in the SE side (see plan). Identified by Crawford as a 'Roman fort of the semi-permanent kind' because of its 'unmistakably Roman straightness'.
OS 6" 1901 publishes 'Gold Castle' as a small outline square of about 20.0m, and the Ordnance Survey Name Book (ONB) describes it as the site of an ancient castle or stronghold of which not a vestige remains, deriving its name from a tradition of buried treasure. Maitland describes the enclosure fairly accurately, referring to it as 'a Roman fort called the Golden Castle', and says that in it there was a 'tumulus' from which gold coins had been dug. It is also probably the vestiges of a fortification called 'Silver Castle' of the Statistical Account (OSA) and New Statistical Account (NSA).
O G S Crawford 1949; Name Book 1864; W Maitland 1757; OSA 1796; NSA 1845.
Artefact Recovery (1964)
A saddle quern was found on the N bank of the River Tay about 5 yds S of Gold Castle. There were plough marks on both upper and lower surfaces and it had presumably been removed from the adjacent ploughed area. It is 18 ins long, 15 1/2 ins wide, and 10 ins high.
D M Lye 1964.
Field Visit (28 October 1965)
Cultivation has obliterated all trace of this feature.
Visited by OS (JTT) 28 October 1965.
Artefact Recovery (1987)
The saddle quern is now in Perth Museum (Accession no. 1987.301).
A G Reid 1987
Aerial Photographic Transcription (13 December 1988)
An aerial transcription was produced from oblique aerial photographs. Information from Historic Environment Scotland (BM) 31 March 2017.
Field Visit (June 1992)
(Formerly located at NO 0964 2788 and classified as enclosure and linear cropmark). This sub-rectangular enclosure is situated on the E bank of the River Tay opposite Broxy Kennels. First recorded by Maitland in the mid-eighteenth century, it is now only visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs (CUCAP 1949 and 1972; RCAHMSAP 1985). These show that the enclosure measures about 150m by 100m internally. The NE end of the interior is crossed by an old watercourse, but the cropmarks have revealed traces of a large disc about 40m across in the SW end; the latter possibly marks the site of the 'tumulus, out of which a considerable quantity of gold coins have been dug', which is also recorded by Maitland.
Visited by RCAHMS (SH, AW) June 1992.
W Maitland 1757.
