© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic Environment Scotland
Praetorium is a homestead moat located in Perthshire, Scotland. The monument consists of a defensive water-filled ditch surrounding a residential enclosure, a domestic fortification type common to medieval Scotland. The moat lies upon bedrock of the Southern Highland Group, comprising metamorphic psammite and pelite formations laid down during the Middle Cambrian period. These hard metamorphic rocks would have presented significant challenges for the construction of the ditch, requiring considerable labour to excavate through the solid geology.
The homestead moat represents a modest but purposeful domestic settlement strategy, combining everyday habitation with practical defence. Such moats provided both practical barriers against livestock and symbolic markers of status and tenure. The site sits within Perthshire's varied landscape, where numerous similar monuments indicate intensive medieval settlement patterns.
Praetorium is protected as a scheduled monument under Historic Environment Scotland's national record (SM2551), recognising its archaeological significance as evidence of medieval domestic life and land use in central Scotland. The survival of the moat's earthworks preserves important information about settlement practices and social organisation in medieval Perthshire.
Praetorium,homestead moat is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM2551. View the official record →
Praetorium is a homestead moat located in Perthshire, Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM2551.
Praetorium,homestead moat is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic Environment Scotland — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Scotland. The official designation reference is SM2551.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Bridge of Lyon,cairn & cup marked stone 350m ESE of (0.2 km), Bridge of Lyon, standing stone 340m SE of (0.3 km), Bridge of Lyon,long cairn 180m E of (0.4 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Praetorium,homestead moat's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Praetorium,homestead moat stands on Southern Highland Group, bedrock that formed in the Middle Cambrian. The rock here is psammite and pelite.