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Waulkmill

Fort (Period Unassigned)

Site Name Waulkmill

Classification Fort (Period Unassigned)

Alternative Name(s) Waukmill; River Earn

Canmore ID 26035

Site Number NN91NW 44

NGR NN 933 163

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/26035

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

  • Council Perth And Kinross
  • Parish Blackford
  • Former Region Tayside
  • Former District Perth And Kinross
  • Former County Perthshire

Archaeology Notes

NN91NW 44 933 163.

The cropmarks of a circular fort have been identified from aerial photographs on the edge of a plateau overlooking the River Earn, 30m NW of Waulkmill farmsteading (NN91NW 138). It measures approximately 60m in diameter, within a double ditch, with traces of a further two ditches on the S side. No ditches are visible on the N or E sides, and these may have been defined by the steep slope of the valley side. Internally, a number of indeterminate cropmarks are visible, some of which may represent buildings. This site was previously interpretated as a possible enclosure.

Information from RCAHMS (KB) 13 August 1999

Activities

Note (23 December 2014 - 18 May 2016)

Parchmarks have revealed the ditch of a small fortification situated on a triangular promontory above the confluence of the Machany Water with the River Earn immediately N of Waulkmill. The surface of the promontory falls gently from W to E, dropping away steeply along the NNE flank, but less so on the SE above Waulkmill itself. The parchmarkings are formed most clearly where the ditch cuts through the SE margin of the promontory, petering out as it extends in a gentle arc to the N to rest on the NNE margin; a second more diffuse mark lies about 3m inside its line, probably representing deeper deposits surviving in the lea of the rampart and thus creating a ghost of the rampart itself. At first sight, these defences appear to be a promontory work, but there are possible traces of the inner lip of the ditch extending some way along the SE margin of the promontory, while shadows on satellite imagery hint at the presence of heavily degraded earthworks on the slope at the E tip. If so, the enclosure is in fact D-shaped on plan, backing onto the escarpment on the NNE and measuring internally about 65m from ESE to WNW along the chord by 45m transversely (0.23ha). In addition a short length of a second linear mark can also be seen outside the ditch on the SE margin of the promontory, but while this may be an outer ditch on a divergent line, it might equally be the remains of a trackway mounting the slope. The position of the entrance is not known, and several other marks within the interior are too diffuse to warrant interpretation.

Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 18 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC2645

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