Note
Date 20 December 2013 - 23 May 2016
Event ID 1045459
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Note
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1045459
This is one of the larger and better preserved promontory works along this stretch of coast, comprising an arc of two ramparts and ditches, the outer accompanied by a counterscarp bank, cutting off the only line of approach to a precipitous coastal promontory from the NE. The interior measures 62m from NE to SW along the axis of the promontory by a maximum of 50m transversely, but the defences rest on the cliff-edge well beyond the present margins of the promontory, which is otherwise no more than 25m broad, and has evidently once been considerably larger. The innermost and middle ramparts stand up to 3.3m and 1.8m respectively above the inner and outer ditches, which are 9m and 6m in breadth. The entrance lies in the middle of the arc of defences on the NE. Nothing can now be seen of the 'narrow stone parapet' identified In 1911 the RCAHMS investigators on the crest of the innermost ramparts, but several of the five upright stones they noted at intervals along the crest of the middle rampart between the entrance and the cliff-edge on the E can still be seen. A circular depression they noted at the seaward end of the promontory, and the traces of rectangular building noted in 1951 immediately behind the rampart near the entrance, were not found when the earthworks were examined during a coastal erosion evaluation carried out in 1996 (Toolis 2003, 56-7, fig 13).
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 23 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC0247
