Blackford Hill Fort and Settlement Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh Council Area, Scotland, UK

Scheduled Monument Statement of Significance

© Crown Copyright text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland, reprinted under the Open Government License.

The monument is of national importance because of its potential to add to our understanding of later prehistoric domestic organisation and defensive construction. The ramparts will contain information for the nature and date of their construction while the interior of the fort may be expected to contain evidence for the nature and organisation of internal occupation. The site is also important as one of a group of forts on hills in and around what is now Edinburgh, with a potential for exploring the prehistoric significance of the area which later became the national capital.

Scheduled Monument Description

© Crown Copyright text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland, reprinted under the Open Government License.

The monument comprises the remains of a hillfort and external settlement of later prehistoric date surviving as a series of earthworks on the summit of Blackford Hill.

The fort occupies the highest point on Blackford Hill at around 160m OD, commanding extensive views over the surrounding area. The site is naturally defined by precipitous slopes and crags around all but the E side. To the E is a level area of ground occupied by rig and furrow cultivation, probably dating from the post-medieval period.

The fort has been defined by at least two circuits of rampart, which are intermittently visible around the perimeter. These take advantage of the natural topography of the hill and have been most imposing on the E side where natural defence is weakest. The visible ramparts contain a significant proportion of stone and a number of large facing stones are visible, particularly on the N and NE of the circuit.

The ramparts have little surface relief and have a visible spread of up to 3m. There appears to have been an entrance on the E side. The interior of the fort measures approximately 70m E-W by 50m and is irregular, with numerous patches of exposed rock. There are however, several level areas where archaeological deposits may be expected to survive.

To the E of the fort, on an area of level ground, are the circular foundations of at least four houses. Two of these can be clearly seen, and measure about 8m in diameter, while the others are less obvious.

The previously scheduled area, which encompassed the fort and the best preserved house, is to be extended to the E to include the recently discovered houses. The extended area is irregular in shape with maximum dimensions of 170m E-W by 100m as marked in red on the accompanying map extract. The above-ground structures of the Ordnance Survey triangulation pillar, view indicator and wooden bench seat are excluded from the scheduling.

Scheduled Monument References

© Crown Copyright text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland, reprinted under the Open Government License.

RCAHMS records the monument as NT 27 SE 90.