Note
Date 30 January 2015 - 18 May 2016
Event ID 1044141
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Note
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1044141
This isolated rock stack, which is separated from the mainland by a precipitous ravine, stands at the S end of the bay at Port of Ness. Cliff-girt and inaccessible around the landward side, a wall can be seen extending along the lip of the ravine, though in the opinion of the OS surveyor who gained access in 1969 it appeared more life a field-dyke than a fortification. Indeed, aerial photographs and satellite imagery suggest this dyke encloses the whole of the flat summit, an irregular area measuring 150m from ESE to WNW by a maximum of 90m transversely (0.78ha). Within this area there are at least ten rectangular buildings, presumably a settlement of medieval or post-medieval date and accessed from the spine of rocks that runs out into the sea on the NNE. A natural stronghold, it should perhaps be compared with Dun Eistean (Atlas No.2772) a little further north, where excavations on a similar location have failed to reveal any evidence for occupation or fortification prior to the medieval period.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 18 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC2773
