Moor Dam

Fort on Margin of Moor Dam, Keir Plantation.

This fort, known locally as "The Roman Camp" or "The Trench Knowe," lies between the 100- and 200-feet contour lines, at a point about 600 yards to the north-east of Moor Cottage. It is so close to the Moor Dam that the segment of it immediately adjacent to this artificial pond has been seriously encroached. upon by the processes of banking-up and path making. The actual site is a low and roughly pear-shaped elevation which rises, with its longer axis north-west and south-east, from ground that must always have been more or less swampy. Round its margin, and enclosing an area of fully an acre, runs a scarp such asmay once have been surmounted by a palisade, and outside of this is a shallow but fairly well defined ditch, beyond which again, and representing at least part of its upcast, is a mound of earth with a height varying from 2 to 3 feet, and an average "spread" of about 20 feet. The dimensions of the ditch are far from uniform. On the north-east segment it is only about 20 feet wide, while on a line drawn due east and west at the intersection of the axes it is some 10 or 12 feet wider. Here and there, where it is widest, particularly on the southwest segment, there are indications of a third mound, lying about 20 feet out from its inner lip and perhaps intended to support additional palisading. The ground is largely overgrown with trees and bracken, so that the outline of the whole is difficult to make out. There are no traces of an entrance.

RCAHMS 1933, visited 22 April 1925.

Earthwork, Moor Dam.

The inventory description is adequate (RCAHMS 1933 No.160), but a plan of this work was made in 1952. The inner scarp stands to a maximum height of 4 ft. and the medial mound to a height of 2 - 3 ft. There are no signs of an entrance or of internal structures. In view of its situation , it is better to describe the structure as an earthwork rather than a fort, leaving the question of date open.

Visited by RCAHMS (KAS) 9 June 1952

NS 946 882, NS 971 899 and NS 896 787 A programme of surveys was undertaken 9 April–10 June 2011 on three forts in the Scottish lowlands.

Kier Plantation fort is located roughly half way up the eastern side of Moor Loch in an area of mixed woodland. The W of the site is bordered by the Moor Loch, the N by marshy ground that was originally part of the loch and the E and S by flat ground. The fort is sub-circular in shape and a maximum of c70m in diameter, with a number of banks and ditches. There is a knoll at the N end that would have originally formed a promontory into the loch. Although there is no internal rampart the incline on the inner face of the ditch is very sharp, reaching 1.5m high in places. A definite break in the bank and ditch mark the position of a possible entrance to SW.

Castlehill Wood fort is located on fairly level low-lying ground in mature trees within Bogside Wood. The fort is oval in shape and measures c70m NW–SE by 48m NE–SW and is mostly surrounded by a bank and ditch, although the ditch is barely visible in the W. There is an entrance in the SE.

Callendar Wood fort is located in an area of mixed deciduous trees in Callendar Wood. The fort is sub-rectangular in shape, measures c155m E–W by 93m N–S and consists of a ditch with an external bank. The ditch measures between c0.3–3.0m in depth and is deepest at the E end. The ditch is least visible along a small southern section. There is an entrance in the SE flanked on either side with fairly large banks, and a possible smaller entrance in the SW. Two much smaller ditches, which are aligned roughly N–S across the site, appear to be later additions and are possibly associated with later drainage related to the footpath.

Archive: RCAHMS. Report: Fife and North Lanarkshire SMR

Funder: Forestry Commission Scotland

Rebecca Shaw Archaeological Services, 2011

A programme of evaluation trial trenching was undertaken at Keir fort. The three trenches excavated gave considerable information on the construction of the fort defences, which consisted of a series of ramparts, ditches, and artificially created escarpments. A single sherd of pottery recovered during the evaluation proved to be medieval in date, but this came from high up within the deposits and is considered to be unsecure in relation to dating the fort. Several soil samples were taken, a number of which contain pieces of charcoal, which may allow the date of the fort to be established.

Information from Oasis (cfaarcha1-139888) 26 March 2013

NS 9464 8822 A trial trenching evaluation was carried out in November 2012 at Keir Wood Fort. The three trenches excavated gave considerable information on the construction of the fort defences, which consisted of a series of ramparts, ditches, and artificially created escarpments. A single sherd of pottery recovered proved to be medieval in date, but this came from high up within the deposits and is considered to be unsecure in relation to dating the fort. Several soil samples were taken, a number of which contain pieces of charcoal, which may allow the date of the fort to be established.

Archive: Fife Council HER and RCAHMS

Funder: Forestry Commission Scotland

Magnus Kirby, CFA Archaeology Ltd, 2013

(Source: DES)

A review of the information available for this site suggests that it should be classified as a fort rather than an earthwork.

Information from RCAHMS (JRS) 19 November 2013.

This fort occupies a low hillock on the SE shore of the artificial loch NE of Tulliallan Castle. Pear-shaped on plan, the interior measures about 55m from NW to SE by 55m transversely (0.2ha). The defences comprise a belt of two ramparts and ditches, accompanied where best-preserved on the SW by a counterscarp bank, but the inner rampart has been reduced to little more than a scarp dropping into the inner ditch, which varies from 6m to 9m in breadth. There is no evidence of an entrance, and the interior, which has been under trees, is featureless. Three evaluation trenches were excavated in 2012, but no detailed information from this work is yet available.

Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 23 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC1846