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Publication Account
Date 1986
Event ID 1017441
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1017441
Linear earthworks traverse the Mull of Galloway peninsula on either side of the narrow and low isthmus between East and West Tarbet The southern line is the longer and bigger of the two, extending over a distance of 400m from NX 145308 to 141306. For the most part it consists of three ditches with two intermediate banks, the inner and more substantial of the two banks being up to 4m broad and 2.2m high. Part of the bank is surmounted by a later turf dyke which blocks four original entrances and makes a right-angled return on top of the western cliffs.
On the opposite side of the isthmus, 330m north of its partner and immediately south of the enclosed fields, there are traces of a second earthwork reduced to a height of only 0.5m. It runs from NX 141310 to 142310 along the crest of a natural ridge and partly beneath a modem dyke; at one point there are traces of a stone revetrnent.
Interpretation of the purpose of these remains gives scope for endless speculation. The isthmus provided boat-sheltering facilities, and a portage for those who wished to avoid the strong tidal races around the point. The Mull itself is a natural citadel, but surviving evidence of man-made activities is confmed to a cairn beneath the flagstaff at NX 156304, a cup-marked rock at NX 154304, and the lighthouse (1830 AD), none of which can be equated with these defences.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Dumfries and Galloway’, (1986).
