Barry Hill
Enclosure (Prehistoric) - (Early Medieval)
Site Name Barry Hill
Classification Enclosure (Prehistoric) - (Early Medieval)
Canmore ID 31065
Site Number NO25SE 26
NGR NO 2654 5027
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/31065
- Council Perth And Kinross
- Parish Alyth
- Former Region Tayside
- Former District Perth And Kinross
- Former County Perthshire
NO25SE 26 2654 5027
(NO 2654 5027) Fort (NR).
OS 6" map (1926)
An 'out-fort' of the Barry Hill complex (NO25SE 23), destroyed in 1854, was oval in form and measured 35 yds. E-W x 33 yds. transversely. It consisted of a drystone wall several feet high set on large grounders which measured 12 ft. wide at the base and was surrounded by a ditch 2ft. deep x 6ft. broad. The two entrances, on the north and south, were joined by a passage, 3ft. 3ins. broad, was bounded by a wall 2ft. high x 2 1/2ft. thick for several feet at the north end. The space between the outer wall and the passage was laid with undressed flags below the existing surface of the ground. This space was filled with black earth and stones, several large patches of charcoal and red powder, possibly brick-dust, and a few bones. Numerous well-worn and broken querns were found among the stones, and many small flat oval stones.
An IA steatite cup with a perforated handle from the site is in the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland [NMAS] (Accession no: AQ 22).
(T A Wise 1859, 1868)
Situated on a shelf overlooking good arable land, but itself overlooked to the N and W, the remains of this enclosure have been almost completely removed apart from a 35.0m length of wall on the south side. For the most part it is visible as a turf-covered bank 1.5m high, but a basal course of large boulders can be seen on the outer face and this, with a short stretch of walling on the inside, indicates that the wall is 3.5m to 4.0m wide. Elsewhere, the course of the wall is visible as a slight rise in the ground. There is no trace of an entrance.
Due to the poor conditions of the remains, it can only be classed as an enclosure, although its situation and size suggest that it is the remains of a homestead. There is no indication that it was associated with the fort on Barry Hill.
Resurveyed at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (RD) 9 September 1970
Field Visit (19 July 1956)
The fort marked on the OS map at NO 265 503 on Barra Hill has been almost completely destroyed by cultivation. The field was in crop at the time of the visit and all that could be seen was a segment of a low bank. The structure is clearly not an Iron Age fort.
RCAHMS, visited 19 July 1956
Field Visit (22 April 1988)
All that can be seen of this enclosure is an arc of wall about 30m in length. The wall is 3.9m thick; its outer face has been reduced to a basal course of massive blocks (up to 1.4m long and 0.6m high), while its inner face is built of smaller boulders (0.6m to 1.1m long by up to 0.5m high). A stretch of intermural wall-face some 3.2m in length is visible 1.1m within the inner face. A small boulder with traces of vitrifaction adhering to it lies amongst the wall core immediately behind the eighth of the large outer-facing blocks from the E; an iron plinth also protrudes from the wall core. The rest of the enclosure was removed in 1854. Prior to this it measured 32m by 30m internally and had an external ditch; there were entrances on the N and S respectively. In the course of its demolition a steatite cup (RMS AQ 22) and a number of querns were found.
Visited by RCAHMS (SPH) 22 April 1988.
RCAHMS 1990.
