Publication Account
Date 1996
Event ID 1016499
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016499
The most easterly of the granite tors of the evocative Bennachie massif rises to the not inconsiderable height of 518m and is flanked by an unusual stone-walled fort. About 30m below the summit the main wall, c 7m wide and up to 1.7m high, of drystone construction, can be seen. A triangular annexe lies to the west of the entrance which itself is in the north-eastern arc of the wall. The elaborate entrance runs for 16 m, extending into the fort. Traces of a parapet on the wallhead can be seen on either side of the entrance passage. (Visitors are requested not to climb on the walls.) An inner wall is represented by tumble and scree around the main tor. A well or cistern is against the south arc of the outer wall, while a second entrance may have been on the south-western circuit. Excavations in the 1870s revealed up to 10 hut foundations, several of which must have represented secondary occupation as they had been built on top of stones fallen from the ruined wall.
The area to the north of Bennachie has been claimed as the site of the battle of Mons Graupius in AD 84 on the basis of a large temporary Roman camp found at Durno (NJ 698271 ). However, the construction of the Mither Tap fort around the rocky outcrops of the summit has more in common with early historic practices than with iron-age traditions.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Aberdeen and North-East Scotland’, (1996).
