Note
Date 20 December 2013 - 23 May 2016
Event ID 1045448
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Note
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1045448
This fort overlooks the mouth of the Dee estuary above Carsluith Castle and occupies a local summit which lends itself to defence, with steep slopes and rock faces on most flanks, and a deeply incised gully separating it from the rising ground to the NE. Subrectangular on plan, the fort measures internally 126m from NW to SE by 74m transversely (0.83ha) and is defended by two walls. The main wall, which probably formed a complete circuit, is best preserved on the N and NE, where occasional outer facing-stones can be seen in a spread of rubble up to 4.3m in thickness and 1.3m in height externally, while elsewhere there is little more than a scarp to mark its line around the margin of the summit. Additional defence on the gentle northern approach is provided by an outer wall, which springs from the edge of a cliff on the W and fades away into a terrace that peters out on the steep slope below the main wall on the E. It measures 1.9m in thickness where both faces survive on the N, but otherwise it too is spread to a maximum thickness of 4.3m. The original entrance is on the N, facing NNE out onto the easiest line of approach. Other gaps on the NW and S are probably more recent, though from the latter a track descends obliquely through a lower terrace that can be traced round the S and W flanks of the fort and is possibly the remains of an outer line of defence on these sides. The interior has been cultivated and is now featureless.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 23 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC0236
