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'Castle Rock', Auchmithie

Cup And Ring Marked Rock (Neolithic), Fort (Iron Age)

Site Name 'Castle Rock', Auchmithie

Classification Cup And Ring Marked Rock (Neolithic), Fort (Iron Age)

Canmore ID 35531

Site Number NO64SE 4

NGR NO 6819 4416

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/35531

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Angus
  • Parish Arbroath And St Vigeans
  • Former Region Tayside
  • Former District Angus
  • Former County Angus

Archaeology Notes

NO64SE 4 6819 4416.

(NO 6819 4416) Castle Rock (NAT) Fort (NR)

OS 6" map (1970)

Castle Rock: A promontory fort formed by isolating a small promontory with 100' high precipitous sides by means of a triple curved rampart with medial ditches, broken by a central entrance causeway 2.0m wide. The level enceinte has been c.100' square but is considerably eroded on the N, and to a lesser extent on the E. The inner rampart has almost disappeared, only slight traces remaining. The inner ditch is 5.0m high. The middle rampart is 1.7m high and 3.7m broad. The outer ditch is 4.5m wide. The outer rampart is 1.0m high. It has been slight and is now considerably mutilated, especially on the N, where only the counterscarp is visible (D Christison 1899).

Visited by OS (JLD) 10 June 1958

As described.

Resurveyed at 1:2500.

Visited by OS (JTT) 21 October 1965

Excavated after 1967 under D A Gardner.

I Ralston 1986.

Activities

Field Visit (1 August 1956)

This site was included within the RCAHMS Marginal Land Survey (1950-1962), an unpublished rescue project.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.

Note (4 June 2015 - 25 October 2016)

This small fortification occupies a precipitous promontory overlooking the harbour at Auchmithie. The only possible line of approach is from the SW, and here access is barred by at least two ramparts with external ditches, pierced by a central entrance causeway. The roughly triangular interior measures a maximum of 33m from N to S by 30m transversely (0.05ha). The ditches are up to 5m broad and the best preserved of the ramparts, the middle rampart, forms a bank up to 1.7m high. Excavations carried out between 1969 and 1974 examined the greater part of the interior, revealing a metalled pathway, patches of paving and cobbling, several hearths and a scatter of post-holes, but no coherent pattern can be discerned (Ralston 1986). Likewise the character of the inner rampart and possible evidence of timberwork noted on the N side of the entrance.

Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 25 October 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC3095

References

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