Perdieus Mount

Perdieus Mount is easy to miss if you don’t know the name, but it’s one of the oldest secular earthworks in the town: a motte, probably of the 12th or 13th century, near Lady Mill, close to the west bank of the Tower Burn. Historic Environment Scotland describes an oval earthen mound about 30 metres by 25 metres at the base, standing up to 4.5 metres high, with a levelled top and a smaller platform part-way down the south side.

The name is recorded from at least the 16th century, with the lands of Perdew, Perdewis and Perdeweis on the south side of lower Dunfermline. Scheduled in 1954, the motte can tell us about medieval strongholds and how land was controlled as the burgh grew. HES notes a potential relationship with the palace, Abbey and Malcolm Canmore’s Tower.

It stands in a built-up part of town, in a low-lying field, more like a grassy hill than a castle. There are no opening hours. Look from the edge, don’t dig, and don’t treat the mound as a playground. For standing masonry from the same world, go next to the Abbey or the tower foundations in Pittencrieff Park.