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Saline Hill is an Iron Age fort situated 1280 metres south-east of Sheardrum in Fife. The monument occupies a naturally defended position on bedrock composed of mafic lava and tuff, volcanic rocks formed during the Carboniferous period. This geological foundation would have provided a stable base for the fort's defensive structures and a prominent vantage point across the surrounding landscape.
The fort belongs to a class of Iron Age settlement that flourished across Scotland during the first millennium before the Roman period. Such fortifications typically comprised timber-laced stone ramparts or earthen banks arranged in one or more defensive circuits, often crowning hill summits or other naturally elevated positions. The specific topography at Saline Hill, rising from the volcanic bedrock of the Midland Valley, would have offered considerable strategic advantages to its inhabitants.
The site is protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM8540, recognising its significance to Scotland's archaeological heritage. The fort remains an important record of Iron Age settlement patterns in Fife, reflecting the distribution of defended communities across the region during this formative period of Scottish prehistory.
Saline Hill, fort 1280m SE of Sheardrum is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM8540. View the official record →
Saline Hill is an Iron Age fort situated 1280 metres south-east of Sheardrum in Fife. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM8540.
Saline Hill, fort 1280m SE of Sheardrum dates from the iron age period, and is classified as a fort 1280m se of sheardrum. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Saline Hill, fort 1280m SE of Sheardrum 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 SM8540.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Tuilyies, stone setting, Torryburn, Fife (6.9 km), Drumfin Cottage, fort 540m SSW of (7.2 km), Dunfermline Abbey, Nether Yett, 10m NNE of Old Kirk Cottage (7.9 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Saline Hill, fort 1280m SE of Sheardrum'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.
Saline Hill, fort 1280m SE of Sheardrum stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Silesian, bedrock that formed in the Carboniferous. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.