The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Moves under way to uncover the mysteries of King’s Seat
Knowledge of the fort has been lost in the mists of time
Overgrown with rhododendron and planted with trees, an ancient seat of power once stood upon the crags above Dunkeld.
Commanding views for miles around, the man who once ruled from this high seat would have been one of power and influence.
King’s Seat remains one of Perthshire’s great unexplored fortifications.
It has never undergone archaeological investigation and knowledge of when it was inhabited has long since been lost.
Members of Dunkeld and Birnam Historical Society aim to change that by partnering with the Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust (PKHT) to undertake a dig.
Work started when a small group of locals cleared the site, and efforts are now being made to secure funding for a study.
Permission will also be required from Historic Environment Scotland as the site is a scheduled monument.
It is hoped a full-blown archaeological dig could begin in late summer, and hopes are high it will prove a gold mine of information and artefacts.
A cursory examination by the archaeologist RW Feachan led him to describe it as “a most promising site likely to produce artefacts”.
Sarah Malone from PKHT said: “King’s Seat hill fort survives in woodland and is designated as nationally important and protected through scheduled monument legislation.
“Despite its clear importance to the prehistory of the area, very little is known about the hill fort, apart from basic plans of its surviving earthworks.”
She continued: “At the moment we are developing the project and applying for funding to carry out an archaeological excavation.
“The project would aim to celebrate the site by engaging volunteers form the local community, led by professionals, to archaeologically excavate the site over three years.”
The information discovered would then be used to create all manner of material to reveal the site and its real history to the local community and visitors.
The scale of the project proposed is laid bare by the giant task that faced the eight dedicated volunteers who have prepared the site for excavation.
Having been approached by members of the public keen to take a project forward, the trust secured monument consent from Historic Environment Scotland for a group of local volunteers to remove the dense rhododendron growth that had completely obscured the summit of the hill fort.
To date, the team has spent more than 100 hours clearing vegetation.