Following the launch of trove.scot in February 2025 we are now planning the retiral of some of our webservices. Canmore will be switched off on 24th June 2025. Information about the closure can be found on the HES website: Retiral of HES web services | Historic Environment Scotland
Note
Date 2 March 2016 - 18 May 2016
Event ID 1044097
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Note
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1044097
The Kame of Isbister is a rugged coastal promontory with a distinctive sloping profile dropping down seaward from the rocky crest overlooking the narrow neck. It was formerly approached along the razor-backed spine of the neck, where access was impeded by a natural boss of rock, from which the outcrops rose to form a natural rampart along the crest of the promontory. There is no record of any artificial works or defences, but the natural character of the topography is sufficiently difficult to justify its inclusion with other coastal fortifications on promontories; indeed, continued erosion along the neck has now rendered the promontory inaccessible to any casual visit. Behind the rocky crest, the ground on the E drops down towards the sea, the upper portion being grass-grown and measuring 90m from N to S by up to 38m transversely (0.25ha), beyond which the sloping outcrops drop a further 40m down to the sea. In 1876, George Cockburn counted no fewer than twenty-three rectangular buildings on the grassy slope, excavating in two of them (Gordon 1878), while a plan drawn up by the OS in 1970 shows nineteen, the majority of them set side by side along the upper margin immediately below the crest of the promontory. While it was suggested in the 19th century that this may be a relatively recent fishing station, the isolation and difficulties of access, coupled with analogies elsewhere in the Northern Isles suggests an early medieval monastic origin (Lamb 1973; 1976).
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 18 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC4182
