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Archaeology Notes
Event ID 694212
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Archaeology Notes
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/694212
NR34NE 11 3712 4675
(NR 3710 4675) Borraichill Mor (NR) (Fort) (NR)
OS 6" map, Argyllshire, 2nd ed., (1900).
Borraichill Mor [NAT]
Fort [NR]
OS 1:10,000 map, 1981.
(South coast). Borraniebill Mor, just over a mile from the shore at Port Ellen. A bare rocky summit, 450ft [137m] above OD, is protected on the S and E by a massive double-faced wall, very well preserved and 8ft [2.4m] thick, and on the other sides by precipitous cliffs. There is a small gate [narrow entrance] on the SE, certainly not more than 6ft [1.8m] wide (only one face of the passage was exposed). The interior [was] very uneven and broken by tall rock outcrops, [and] could not be measured, but probably comprises [an area of] 1 to 3 acres.
(This is one of the two monuments that is noted by Childe as approaching 'in size or situation a hill-top town...' Its masonry is perhaps rather coarser than that noted in most of the 'castles').
V G Childe 1935, no. 10.
A fort occupying the rugged summit of Borraichill Mor and measuring 95.0m east-west by 90.0m. The wall is collapsed and survives as a stony band 1.7m to 5.0m wide and 1.0m maximum height. There is no trace of walling on either the north side or near the south east corner where almost vertical cliffs serve as a natural defence. The easiest approach is from the south east, where a footpath gives access to the fort, and this seems likely to have been the position of the entrance. Immediately within the south wall is a ditch or terrace 60m long and 40m wide with its north side formed by a bare rock face. Although quite natural this ditch has a uniform appearance probably resulting from stone
quarrying for the fort wall.
Surveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (BS), 28 June 1978.
