Archaeology Notes

Event ID 677202

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/677202

NN60NW 7 6014 0759.

(NN 6014 0759) Dunmore (NR), Well (NR)

OS 6" map, (1958)

Dunmore (also known as An Dun (Maclagan 1873) and Dun bo chaistel (New Statistical Account {NSA 1845}) is a fine example of a fort in which a semi-oval fortification defends the accessible side, the other side or base resting on the edge of a precipitous bank. The fortifications comprise four parallel circular banks with large stones embedded in them, and it is probable that they are really stone walls overgrown with turf. They vary in height from 6 - 10ft. The inner area, which contains a filled-in well, is c 180ft N-S by 150ft E-W (Christison 1900).

A whetstone, found in 1964 within the fort area, was presented to Stirling Museum (Thomson 1964).

Loose vitrified material was found lying in the well and in a modern cairn near the well; also in situ in the second rampart from the interior on the west.

NSA 1845; C Maclagan 1873; D Christison 1900; J K Thomson 1964; Information from RCAHMS TS, 1957.

Dunmore, a fort, is generally as planned and described by Christison. A fifth line of defence in the form of a scarp or terrace can be traced at the foot of the ramparts on the west side. The entrance is uncertain but access was probably gained at either end of the ramparts. There is an apparent annexe to the fort at the base of the north side which may be contemporary. It consists of a single bank of earth and stone, 1.7m high externally and 0.7m high internally, with well-defined entrance in the SW corner; the access, if any, from this annexe to the fort is uncertain.

The well is a water-filled hollow about 2.0m in diameter.

Resurveyed at 1/2500.

The whetstone is on exhibition in the Smith Institute, Stirling.

Visited by OS (R D) 15 October 1968.