Castle Craig

Castle Craig is a large, rocky knoll on a lower spur of Craig Rossie, and its summit is occupied by a roughly circular fort.

Measuring approximately 28.0m in diameter, it is surrounded by a stone rampart around 2.5m thick. It now stands to a height of around 0.5m, but would originally have been higher.

To the north the fort is further defended by a rock-cut ditch measuring around 25.0m long by 5.0m wide, and reaching a depth of around 1.0m. On the south side, where the approach to the fort is the easiest, is another ditch and more ramparts, but these have been partly obscured by later quarrying. 

During excavations as part of the SERF project in August 2011 the remains of a previously-unknown broch were discovered within the fort. The walls were found to be some 5.0m thick and still standing to a height of 1.5m, with an intra-mural chamber and the entrance still visible. The excavation revealed numerous items dating to the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, including Roman artefacts, suggesting that the broch and fort were occupied at that time by someone of importance trading with the Romans. Evidence was found to suggest that the broch was deliberately destroyed and the site reconstructed as a palisaded fortress, possibly during the Pictish period.

Radio-carbon dating has placed the construction of the fort to 700 – 500 BC.