Note
Date 1 May 2014 - 1 November 2016
Event ID 1045386
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Note
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1045386
The broch on Ardwell Point stands on a promontory that is also protected by a wall drawn across the narrow neck on the N. While generally regarded as an outwork to the broch, there remains the possibility that this is also the remains of an earlier promontory enclosure, though it is by no means inaccessible from its flanks. The wall is at least 2.6m thick, forming a stony scarp on the N, where it faces into a natural gully some 6m broad and 2.3m deep. To either side it turns back southwards towards the broch and while no inner facing-stones are visible, the line of the outer face can be traced along both flanks, on the W standing 1.3m high in seven courses and probably once carried upwards by the outer face of the broch; it was thus possibly no more than a small defended annexe in front of the main entrance to the broch. Nevertheless, this wall also cuts off a much bigger area measuring about 65m from N to S by a maximum of 14m transversely (0.1ha). The presence of a second entrance in the broch giving access to the seaward end of the promontory certainly indicates that this area was also used in conjunction with the interior of the broch. The easiest line of approach to the promontory has always been from the N, and a causeway 1.9m wide and 0.9m high has been constructed across the gully at its neck.
The broch itself measures 9m in diameter within a wall that varies between 3.75m and 4.6m in thickness, and is notable for having two opposed entrances.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 01 November 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC0787
