Note
Date 20 December 2013 - 31 August 2016
Event ID 1045392
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Note
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1045392
This fort, which with the exception of the promontory enclosure on the Mull of Galloway is the largest of those on the Rhinns of Galloway, is situated on the summit of Cairn Pat, a hill with commanding views in every direction. Slightly oval on plan, it measures 132m from N to S by 118m transversely (1.15ha) within a pair of ramparts set between 5.5m and 9.5m apart. A third rampart springs from the outer on the SW and swings round the S flank of the fort to probably return on the SSE, but this junction has been destroyed; another low bank with an external ditch lies outside the third rampart on the SW and can be traced in intermittent scatters of stones around the W side, finally petering out on the N. All the ramparts have been extensively robbed and in places are difficult to follow on the ground, but the innermost seems to have been the thickest, ranging from a bank of rubble up to 4.8m thick by 0.8m high on the S to a stony scarp some 1.5m high on the N, whereas the outer of this pair is spread up to 3.1m thick by a maximum of 0.6m high externally; around the S quarter, however, it appears to be flanked internally by a shallow quarry ditch. The third rampart forms a bank only 2m thick by 0.3m high. As a result of the robbing it is also difficult to be certain of the position of any entrances, though there are traces of returns linking the concentric inner pair of ramparts on the WSW. Other gaps on the NE appear modern, while on the SSE a plan drawn up in 1955 shows the ramparts crossing the line of the access road up to the telecommunication masts on the summit; this follows a natural hollow that extends up into the interior between a high rock outcrop on the W and a lower natural scarp on the E, but there is no evidence to show that this was originally exploited as an entrance. The interior is featureless and much of the summit area is made up of exposed bedrock.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 31 August 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC0186
