Field Visit
Date 7 July 1956
Event ID 925029
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/925029
There are three concentric lines of defence around the summit of the knoll. The innermost is a heavily robbed massive stone wall of Abernethy type; the middle wall has been of stone, but the outer, now represented for the most part by a terrace, may have been simply faced with stones or purely an earthwork although the RCAHMS state, on the evidence of internal quarry-ditches, that both outer walls were rubble-cored. Only excavation can determine the relative dating of the walls - the innermost may have replaced an original defence contemporary with the other two. A single piece of vitrifaction, not certainly in situ, was seen. The entrance leads directly through all three defences. On the S side of the fort, a stone wall enclosing the plateau can be traced; it is presumably contemporary with one or other of the occupations of the fort. Just inside the wall, near the SE corner, there are the remains of one certain and two possible stone-walled circular huts, and there are entrances both in the E and W sides.
A second enclosure covers the W side and part of the N side of the fort. It has been bounded by a stone wall similar to that of the other enclosure, and the entrance on the NW is bordered by a line of stones as in certain Dark Age forts (e.g. Buchtrig - NT71SE 24) but no internal dwellings are visible. Similar enclosures exist at Moncrieffe fort (D A - NO11NW 23).
RCAHMS TS, visited 1956.
This site was included within the RCAHMS Marginal Land Survey (1950-1962), an unpublished rescue project. Site descriptions, organised by county, are available to view online - see the searchable PDF in 'Digital Items'. These vary from short notes, to lengthy and full descriptions. Contemporary plane-table surveys and inked drawings, where available, can be viewed online in most cases - see 'Digital Images'. The original typecripts, notebooks and drawings can also be viewed in the RCAHMS search room.
Information from RCAHMS (GFG) 19 July 2013.
