Archaeology Notes

Event ID 698041

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/698041

NR98SW 3 9418 8223.

(NR 9418 8223) Fort (NR)

OS 6" map, Argyllshire, 2nd ed., (1900)

This fort, steeply defended naturally on all sides, is enclosed by a single 7' - 8' wide stone wall. At least two constructional phases, and possibly three, are indicated. Outwith the fort proper, at the N end of the ridge, is a lower terrace, very heavily defended by a stone wall, in which a natural dyke has been adapted to give an entrance on the N. This does not align with the fort entrance on the NE, and the dilapidation of the other rampart before the fort entrance suggests that the N "annexe" may have been a primary feature. Towards the S end of the ridge, a distinct natural step is followed by a heavy transverse wall, which cuts off a slightly lower terrace to the S. This has been lightly walled round to form a S "annexe". The N terrace measures 81' N-S. The fort measures 264', and the S terrace 94'. The E-W axis is 125'.

E B Rennie and F Newall 1960; G A F Knight 1937.

A fort, measuring 110m N-S by 42m E-W within a stone wall 2.8m wide where best preserved on the N. No trace remains on the E, and only a slight scatter of rubble and possible outer facing stones are visible on the S and W. There are entrances on the NNE and S, each utilising natural gullies.

Below the fort wall on the N are two outworks, both heavily denuded and consisting merely of a scatter of rubble. An entrance for the higher outwork is on the NE. The interior is featureless.

Although this fort has been strongly defended, the remains are now too fragmentary to suggest differing constructional phases.

Revised at 1:10560.

Visited by OS (D W R) 17 November 1972.

On the summit of an isolated rocky ridge 800m NW of strone and 700m SE of Barr Iola (NR98SW 2) there are the denuded remains of what has been one of the largest stone-walled forts in the area. The ridge is aligned approximately N and S, with the E and W sides rising steeply from the surrounding moorland, and reasonably easy access is available only on the N. The fort measures about 110m by 32m within main wall, which has been drawn round the margin of the summit. Little of the wall survives on either flank, but on the N and S it appears as a low bank of stony rubble in which a few short lengths of individual stones of the outer face can still be seen. The entrance lies on the NE, and the interior, apart from several rock outcrops, is featureless. The fort has been additionally protected on the N by two outer walls. both of which have been reduced, for the most part, to low bands of stony debris.

Visited May 1985

RCAHMS 1988