Tap o' Noth Hillfort — The Ancient Codex

Tap o' Noth Hillfort, Aberdeenshire — Photo: Steve Reid / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0

Tap o' Noth is a hillfort on the summit of its hill in Aberdeenshire - the second highest fort in Scotland - whose principal feature is a well-preserved vitrified wall enclosing about 0.3 hectares…

Tap o’ Noth Hillfort is a fortified place near Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

What follows is drawn from published sources, with each claim labelled by how firmly it is established.

History

Tap o' Noth is a hillfort on the summit of its hill in Aberdeenshire - the second highest fort in Scotland - whose principal feature is a well-preserved vitrified wall enclosing about 0.3 hectares (roughly 100 m by 30 m).

The summit vitrified fort sits within a much larger outer rampart enclosing some 7 hectares. This outer rampart was built in the fifth to sixth centuries AD, and large-scale settlement within it may reach back as far as the third century AD, contemporary with the Pictish culture.

Drone photography and lidar survey suggest the site held as many as 800 huts - many in groups around a larger central hut - leading it to be described as the largest known settlement in early-medieval (post-Roman) Britain.

People

James Macdonald

Antiquarian who led an excavation of the vitrified summit fort in the 1880s
University of Aberdeen, Northern Picts: Rhynie Environs Project

Ran archaeological investigation of the summit fort, the later rampart and Pictish-period house platforms between 2017 and 2022
The Picts

Culture contemporary with the later large-scale settlement on the hill

Cultural influences

Pictish-era northern Scotland - the later settlement is contemporary with the Pictish culture and sits within the wider Rhynie complex investigated by the Northern Picts project.

Connections

Rhynie Man

Pictish carved standing stone found on Barflat farm in the nearby valley
Rhynie valley post-Roman settlement

Nearby high-status settlement with evidence of Mediterranean wine, glass vessels from western France and intensive metalwork - interpreted as a possibly royal centre
Huntly

Nearest town, about 8 miles to the north

Discovery & excavation

James Macdonald excavated the vitrified summit fort in the 1880s, and the University of Aberdeen's Northern Picts: Rhynie Environs Project investigated the summit fort, the outer rampart and Pictish-period house platforms between 2017 and 2022. Finds from the site include a stone axe head dated to c. 2000 BC - c. 800 BC and a decorated bronze rein-ring dated to the 1st-3rd century AD.

What to look for

The vitrified wall of the summit fort - stone fused by intense heat - enclosing about 0.3 hectares; the fort is the second highest in Scotland.
The much larger outer rampart enclosing some 7 hectares of hillside, built in the fifth to sixth centuries AD.
The Pictish-period house platforms within the outer enclosure - survey suggests as many as 800 huts once stood here.

Plan your visit

Location: 57.3513°N · 2.8583°W
Nearest settlement: Rhynie
Access: Reached on a public path
Terrain: Moderate walking
Start point: Tap o' Noth trailhead car park (near Rhynie/Scurdargue) — Park at the trailhead car park on the minor road north-west of Rhynie. From here it is a steep uphill walk to the hillfort on the summit of Tap o' Noth (~320m climb); the 977m figure is straight-line to the summit, the walked route is longer and strenuous. Allow around 1.5-2 hours return.