Note

Date 16 January 2015 - 31 August 2016

Event ID 1044230

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Note

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1044230

Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

A complex fortification is situated on a hillock overlooking the shore on the first headland north of the mouth of Uig Bay. Protected by precipitous cliffs on the S and W, and steep rocky slopes on the NW and E, the hillock is roughly triangular in plan, but it rises into a roughly oval summit which is enclosed by the innermost defences. Measuring about 40m from E to W by 33m transversely (0.12ha) within a wall about 3m in thickness, pieces of vitrifaction have been found amongst the rubble on its W flank. This inner enclosure is overlain on the E by a small dun which seems to have reused the line of the earlier wall to create an angle on the N in its otherwise circular plan; the dun measures 3.6m across the interior within an externally battered wall up to 3.6m in thickness, and its outer face still stands up to 2.5m in height; the entrance is not visible, but there is a curious recess in the inner face of the wall at the N angle, which together with an internal face observed by the OS in the thickness of the wall may indicate a certain amount of modification and re-working of the structure. The outer defences of the fort include a wall extending the length of the E flank of the hillock below the summit enclosure, and turning sharply back on itself at its N end, in effect creating a triangular annexe on the N. What appears to be a substantial rectangular building, measuring 18m in length by 4.3m in breadth within a foundation 1.5m in thickness is set against the E wall of this annexe, which is also subdivided by a cross-wall extending across the slope below the N flank of the summit enclosure. An entrance at the N apex of the annexe opens onto a sinuous path leading down the slope, while a gap at the E end of the cross provided access leading up to the summit enclosure. RCAHMS investigators in 1921 noted one hollow on the N side of the summit enclosure and at least two more in the annexe that they believed were the remains of contemporary hut-circles (RCAHMS 1928, 17-2, no.542, fig 243), but subsequent fieldwork by the OS has passed no comment. The OS however, observed traces of walling in gaps between the outcrops along the E flank, though whether this is related to the defences of the fort or part of the agricultural enclosures in the vicinity is uncertain; they also identified a possible outwork on W.

Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 31 August 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC2707