Description

The monument comprises a later prehistoric fort which is situated on a rocky knoll at the SW end of the elongated summit of Cademuir Hill. The ground falls away steeply to the S.

The fort measures 73m by 36m within a stone wall (0.5m thick), the debris of which has formed great scree-like deposits on the flanks of the knoll. Stretches of inner and outer facing are visible on the E. The entrance was on the SW from a natural terrace which has also been bordered by a stone wall, with its entrance on the N. A smaller natural terrace on the E side of the fort is bordered by a ruined stone wall and a slight terrace to the N of the fort is also enclosed; an earlier wall cuts across this latter terrace. To the NE of the knoll is a gully 3m deep and 36m wide beyond which are the remains of chevaux de fries, a defence of upright earthfast stones, about 100 stones spread over an area about 80m across. The interior of the fort contains the remains of one ring-groove house (about 12m in diameter) and a crescentic scarp may mark the site of another.

The area to be scheduled is subcircular on plan and measures 210m from SW to NE by 180m transversely to include the fort and an area around in which traces of evidence associated with its construction and use may survive.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because it represents the remains of a fort with well-defined field characteristics (including a rare example of chevaux de frise) and it is one of a group of related monuments on Cademuir Hill which have the potential to provide information about the structure, organisation and development of later prehistoric society in Scotland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NT 23 NW 12.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland