Scheduled Monument
Dalmahoy Hill, fortSM1213
Status: Designated
Documents
Where documents include maps, the use of this data is subject to terms and conditions (https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/termsandconditions).
The legal document available for download below constitutes the formal designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The additional details provided on this page are provided for information purposes only and do not form part of the designation. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within this additional information.
Summary
- Date Added
- 09/10/1998
- Last Date Amended
- 09/10/2008
- Type
- Prehistoric domestic and defensive: fort (includes hill fort and promontory fort)
- Local Authority
- Edinburgh
- Parish
- Ratho
- NGR
- NT 13636 66938
- Coordinates
- 313636, 666938
Description
The monument comprises a fort of prehistoric and early medieval date, visible as a series of upstanding earthworks and walls. It is being rescheduled in order to clarify and extend the protected area.
The monument occupies the summit and upper slopes of Dalmahoy Hill, an area of rough grassland with many rock outcrops, at around 235m OD. The site commands extensive views, particularly over the Firth of Forth to the N. On the summit of the hill is a heavily enclosed citadel visible as a ring-shaped mound of collapsed masonry. Surface finds from this area, as well as structural characteristics, indicate high-status occupation in the 6th-8th centuries AD.
The lower slopes of the hill are enclosed by numerous walls, some defensive and some probably enclosing areas of former cultivation. House platforms are visible in some areas, the most prominent being on the E end of the highest ridge. These are more likely to be of Iron Age date, and some of the ramparts may also date to that period.
The area proposed for scheduling comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related material may be expected to be found. It is irregular in shape with maximum dimensions of 650m between its N and S-most points, and 700m between its E and W-most points, as marked in red on the accompanying map extract.
References
Bibliography
No Bibliography entries for this designation
About Scheduled Monuments
Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.
We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.
Scheduling is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for monuments and archaeological sites of national importance as set out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.
We schedule sites and monuments that are found to be of national importance using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)
Scheduled monument records provide an indication of the national importance of the
scheduled monument which has been identified by the description and map. The description and map (see ‘legal documents’ above) showing the scheduled area is the designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The statement of national importance and additional information provided are supplementary and provided for general information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within the statement of national importance or additional information. These records are not definitive historical or archaeological accounts or a complete description of the monument(s).
The format of scheduled monument records has changed over time. Earlier records will usually be brief. Some information will not have been recorded and the map will not be to current standards. Even if what is described and what is mapped has changed, the monument is still scheduled.
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