Archaeology Notes

Event ID 697871

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/697871

NR83NW 1 8151 3649

(NR 8151 3646) Fort (NR)

(Vitrified) (NR)

OS 6" map, Argyllshire, 2nd ed., (1924)

On the summit of Carradale Point, at a height of 15m OD, there is a vitrified fort measuring 56.5m by 23m internally. The site occupies the middle of an elongated peninsula which is cut off from the adjacent mainland at high tide.

The fort defences comprise a continuous wall (A on the RCAHMS {1971} plan) with outworks (B-H) presumably designed to restrict access to the site. Wall A is now represented for the most part by a low grass-grown bank about 4.5m in thickness, from which large masses of vitrified core-material protrude as shown on the plan. A stretch of the outer face of the wall, measuring 8m in length, has survived in situ on the WNW, while, on the date of visit, it was found that the outer facing-stones at the SE angle of the fort had recently been exposed. Christison (1898) noted a considerable length of the outer face on the NW, but this is no longer visible. The masses of vitrified wall-core on the E side of the fort present a striking appearance attaining in some cases a height of 1.5m above the level of the exterior; on the SW, however, where no vitrified material is evident on the surface of the bank, six separate masses have been dislodged from the wall and lie a short distance away in the interior of the fort.

A gap in the bank between two large vitrified masses on the SE may indicate the position of the entrance. The interior contains several sinuous scarps which may be the result of surface quarrying undertaken during the construction of the fort.

Outside the fort a grass-grown stony bank (B), measuring 5.5m in thickness and 0.6m in height, runs up the slope from a rocky gully on the SE to join the fort wall a few yards S of the supposed entrance. That this bank represents a later development is suggested by the dicovery, referred to above, that the two structures are not bonded together but meet in a straight joint; the purpose of this addition was possibly to secure the entrance against attack from the S. Approach to the fort from this and other directions was likewise impeded by short lengths of walling which blocked the natural gullies leading up from the shore; these are now represented either by stretches of outer facing-stones (C, D and F) or merely by bands of rubble core (E, G and H). An oval depression, some 7.5m outside the N end of the fort, is not mentioned by Christison (1898) in his account of the site, and is probably of recent origin.

D Christison 1898; RCAHMS 1971, visited 1960.

The vitrified fort is as described and planned by RCAHMS (1971).

A small, possibly natural, penannular enclosure 4.0m internal diameter, lies just outside the south wall of the fort. It incorporates on the S side the lump of vitrifaction shown by the RCAHM, but this may be simply tumble from the fort wall.

Surveyed at 1:10 000.

Visited by OS (JB) 24 February 1978.

NR 8151 3649 Site identified as part of a coastal zone assessment survey.

M Cressey and S Badger 2005.