Note
Date 25 March 2015 - 31 May 2016
Event ID 1044319
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Note
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1044319
The remains of this fortification are situated on a rocky promontory on the N coast of the Tarbat peninsular. In general the surface of the promontory planes down towards the sea on the N, but the sides are steep and in places develop into low cliffs, particularly along its W margin. The defences comprise two elements: a pair of outer ramparts with external ditches across the neck of the promontory barring access from the S; and an inner enclosure around a substantial structure embedded in a large mound of rubble. Roughly D-shaped on plan, with a few outer facing-stones visible on the S and NE, and possible inner facing-stones on the N, the structure in this mound probably measures about 16m from N to S by at least 7m transversely within a wall in the order of 2m in thickness. This appears to have stood within the S end of a larger enclosure measuring about 56m from N to S by 12m transversely (0.05ha) within a wall reduced to little more than a band of rubble, which swings concentrically across the neck on the S to follow the E margin of the promontory down to the edge of the sea on the N and return along the W until it disappears in the rubble of the mound. The inner rampart of the outer defences drawn across the neck of the promontory on the S has been heavily robbed but was evidently of some size, fronted by a ditch that measures 7.5m in breadth by up to 1.5m in depth where it is not filled with field-cleared stones. The outer rampart and ditch have been equally heavily reduced, but appear to follow a slightly eccentric line diverging towards the W. The relationships between these various defences are unknown, but a trackway that can be seen cutting across the outer lines on the E is more likely to relate to robbing and stone quarrying in the interior than access to the inner enclosure. The only other feature visible within the interior is an oval hut overlying the wall of the inner enclosure on the E.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 31 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC2919
