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Archaeology Notes
Event ID 659598
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Archaeology Notes
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/659598
NH41NW 1 4085 1836.
At NH 4085 1836 on a promontory overlooking Glen Moriston is a fort measuring about 35.0m N-S by 20.0m transversely. It is defended on the W, S and E sides by natural slopes and rock faces, and in the N, across the neck of the promontory by two ditches 2.0m - 2.5m wide and 0.4m - 0.8m deep, each with traces of a counterscarp formed by upcast from the ditches. Another ditch extends from the inner of the two ditches to defend the NW side of the promontory, and fades before reaching a rock outcrop. The higher S part of the fort is isolated by a stony scarp extending E-W across the promontory, but no set stones are visible to satisfactorily prove that this has been a wall. The entrance has been along the rim of the E slopes, where both the ditches and the scarp stop short of the edge.
See 1/1250 enlargement.
Surveyed at 1/10,560 (Visited by OS (R D) 11 May 1964
Visited by OS (NKB) 26 October 1964
(NH 4085 1836) Fort (NR)
OS 1/10,000 map, (1971)
The fort is as described and planned by the previous field investigator. The bank north of the fort on the OS 1/10,000 map is a later feature. Other similar banks, presumably early modern, are in the vicinity. Published survey (1/10,000) revised.
Visited by OS (JB) 17 May 1979
The slightness of the defences at this site, and the extremely small internal area, suggest that this was never a "fort" in the conventional sense. The site does command excellent views of the glen in both directions, however, and it might best be viewed as a lightly-defended lookout post. Despite a careful search of a wide area around and below the site, no contemporary settlement could be identified.
The bank to the NE of the promontory which cuts off higher ground to the N is not part of the defences. It forms only a short stretch of an extensive feature comprising a narrow and shallow ditch, with the upcast forming a low bank on the S/SW side which can be seen to continue for over a kilometre in ither direction. The date and function of this feature is not known. (see amended plan).
Visited by Highland Regional Council (RBG) 18 March 1987
