Note
Date 8 October 2015 - 18 May 2016
Event ID 1044909
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Note
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1044909
This fort crowns the rocky summit of Dreva Craig, which forms the SW spur of Dreva Hill. The defences comprise two walls, which follow eccentric courses, the inner crowning the summit area, and the outer extending round a lower terrace, and there are have also been belts of chevaux de frise set out across the easiest lines of approach on the NE and SW. The inner enclosure, which has the appearance of a citadel, is oval on plan and measures about 56m from E to W by 43m transversely (0.18ha) within a massive wall between 3.6m and 4.3m in thickness; on the WNW the wall has completely collapsed down the slope, but elsewhere portions of the faces are visible, particularly on the SW, which has suffered from misguided attempts at rebuilding. At least three stone-founded round-houses are visible within the interior, though these need not be contemporary with the defences. The entrance is on the E, adapting a cleft in the rocks from below which a natural ramp descends towards the NE, presumably making for a gap in the outer wall, though little trace of it survives in this sector. The outer enclosure is roughly rhomboidal on plan, measuring a maximum of 115m from NE to SW by 85m transversely (0.64ha), and in addition to the entrance described above, which lies at its NE apex, there is also a second on the NNW where the terminals of the wall overlap to expose the visitor's left side. Unlike the other entrance, which gives access to the inner enclosure, this entrance only serves the outer and is possibly evidence that it was originally conceived as a separate defensive scheme. The belts of chevaux de frise are set across the approaches to this lower wall. That on the SW is the better preserved, the stones having been partly cleared on the NE to make way for a later settlement of stone-walled round-houses and enclosed yards. Evidently later than the fort defences, this is just one of a number of other settlements on the hill, including an extensive cluster of scooped courts and yards associated with a field-system extending along the NW flank of the hill.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 18 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC3577
