© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic Environment Scotland
Shielhill Roman signal station is a Roman fortification located in Perthshire, Scotland, positioned 520 metres west of Shielhill itself. The station sits upon bedrock of the Arbuthnott-Garvock Group, a Pragian-age formation comprising sandstone interspersed with conglomerate, siltstone and mudstone. This geological foundation, exposed across the Scottish Highlands, provided both local building stone and a naturally elevated platform suited to surveillance and communication.
The site exemplifies the network of signal stations that the Roman military established beyond their primary frontier installations, particularly during the Antonine period. These smaller fortifications, typically garrisoned by auxiliary troops, enabled rapid communication across difficult terrain by relaying messages through smoke or mirror signals. The Perthshire location places Shielhill within the strategic zone north of the Antonine Wall, where Roman forces sought to monitor and control the Highlands.
The monument is protected by Historic Environment Scotland under scheduled monument reference SM3871, ensuring preservation of its archaeological resource. Though the visible remains are slight, the site retains significant potential to reveal evidence of Roman occupation, construction practices adapted to Scottish conditions, and the logistics of long-distance military communication in the second century AD.
Shielhill,Roman signal station 520m W of is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM3871. View the official record →
Shielhill Roman signal station is a Roman fortification located in Perthshire, Scotland, positioned 520 metres west of Shielhill itself. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM3871.
Shielhill,Roman signal station 520m W of dates from the roman period, and is classified as a roman signal station. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Shielhill,Roman signal station 520m W of 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 SM3871.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Shielhill,Roman signal station 610m N of (0.9 km), Ardoch, Roman military complex 900m NNE of Ardoch Bridge (1.5 km), Rhynd, enclosed settlement 600m ENE of (2.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Shielhill,Roman signal station 520m W of'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.
Shielhill,Roman signal station 520m W of stands on Arbuthnott-Garvock Group, bedrock that formed in the Pragian. The rock here is sandstone with subordinate conglomerate, siltstone and mudstone.