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Hill Of Dores

Fort (Period Unknown)

Site Name Hill Of Dores

Classification Fort (Period Unknown)

Alternative Name(s) Castle Of Dores; Oakwood; Tullybaccart

Canmore ID 30550

Site Number NO23NE 8

NGR NO 2576 3607

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/30550

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

  • Council Perth And Kinross
  • Parish Kettins
  • Former Region Tayside
  • Former District Perth And Kinross
  • Former County Angus

Archaeology Notes

NO23NE 8 2576 3603 to c.2607 3606.

(NO 2576 3603) Castle of Dores (NR) (Site of)

OS 6" map (1959)

For burial and possible cist found about 1768 on the E flank of the hill, see NO23NE 14.

The Castle of Dores was situated on the summit of the Hill of Dores; it is traditionally said to have been a residence of Macbeth. Great quantities of ashes have been found at various places on this hill, as well as at the site of the Castle. They are thought to be from beacon fires.

About 1768, workmen quarrying on the E side of the hill, close to the side of the new road (Bully Quarry: NO 2607 3606) found a pit 3' square cut in the solid rock; it contained some half consumed human bones of a soft consistency.

Name Book 1860; Statistical Account (OSA) 1796

Activities

Field Visit (10 June 1976)

There are the remains of a bivallate Iron Age fort on the summit of the Hill of Dores. Presumably the tradition concerning a castle of Macbeth arose from this; there is no trace of a castle.

The fort is mutilated by tree growth, and both ramparts are reduced to outward facing earthen scarps which encircle the rim of the summit. It measures some 90.0m NE-SW by 60.0m internally. A counterscarp to the inner defence is visible in the SE arc, 0.2m high, and also on the outer defence in the W arc to a height of 0.4m, where the rampart joins the steep natural slopes which skirt the S side of the fort. Due to the denuded nature of the feature, no entrance can be seen; the easiest means of approach are from the E and W. There is no evidence of structures within the fort.

Surveyed at 1:2500.

Visited by OS (NKB) 10 June 1976

Field Visit (18 May 1989)

Situated on the wooded summit of the Hill of Dores, at the W end of a narrow pass through the Sidlaw Hills, there are the poorly-preserved remains of a bivallate fort. It is protected by steep natural slopes on the N, E and S, but the approach is more gradual on the W and SE. The roughly-oval interior measures about 92m NE-SW by 56m transversely and the inner rampart has largely been reduced to a scarp with an external height of about 2m following the natural break in slope around the edge of the summit. Only on the NE, where it measures up to 5.5m in thickness and 0.5m in internal height, and on the SSE, does this rampart survive as a bank. The outer rampart is best preserved on the SW, where it measures up to 6.5m in thickness and 0.4m in internal height, but no trace of it survives on the S. The entrance has probably been on the SW.

Visited by RCAHMS (JRS) 18 May 1989.

Note (11 May 2015 - 4 August 2016)

The remains of this fort, which has been under several crops of trees since the mid 19th century, are situated on the summit of the Hill of Dores. Oval on plan, it measures 92m from NE to SW by 56m transversely (0.4ha) within heavily degraded twin ramparts. The inner has been reduced largely to a scarp about 2m in external height following the lip of the summit, on the NE and SSE rising into a low bank up to 5.5m thick; no trace of the outer can be seen on the S, but its line can be traced elsewhere, on the SW forming a low bank some 6.4m in thickness. The entrance is probably on the SW.

Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 04 August 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC3049

References

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