Archaeology Notes

Event ID 726560

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/726560

NX43NE 8 4803 3605.

(NX 4803 3605) Promontory Fort (NR)

OS 6" map (1957)

Fort, Isle of Whithorn: The head of the Isle of Whithorn is a rocky peninsula, the central portion of which is roughly triangular, rising 8'-10' above the grassy terrace separating it from the shore. There appears to have been a wall across its seaward end, following the line of a rocky outcop. 170' further on, and immediately in front of the scarp of the central plateau, are defences consisting of two ramparts between three ditches - Crawford, however, states "four lines of defence"- running across the peninsula. The inner ditch is 26' wide, the intermediate, 22' and the outer, 8'. The two inner ramparts measure 20' and 16' at base, and the outer one much less. The amount of stone lying at the bottom of the middle ditch suggests that the inner rampart was either faced with stone or topped by a parapet, while similar debris at the base of the inner scarp indicates a like feature. At the E side of the interior close by the rocks are the remains of a structure, and there are other indications of foundations on the plateau.

(Information from O G S Crawford, undated)

RCAHMS 1912, visited 1911

The seaward part of the promontory is crowned with a small pre-Roman fort with multiple defences on the land- ward side. From the outermost of these ramparts the slope runs down to a slight bank linking the two inlets. This bank is of uncertain date; it is too substantial to be a modern field bank, yet it does not appear to be part of the defences. Surface indications were held to indicate the existence of rectangular buildings on the hill above the chapel (NX43NE 6) (ie the plateau described by the RCAHMS). This area is crossed by natural stone dykes running NE- SW which give the appearance of buried walls. Occasionally these dykes are linked by slight cross banks. A trech 15' x 2'6" was cut across one of these cross banks and carried down to rock. This revealed an irregular spread of soil and rubble of 18" maximum thickness.

Mortar, identical with that used in the medieval masonry of the chapel, was still adhering to many of the stones.

Below this spread was a 12" thick layer of soil which had at one time been cultivated. This layer produced two sherds, one of c.1300 and the other of 15th century date. The soil lay on undisturbed clay which covered the native rock. The cross bank must be accepted as post-Reformation; it was probably formed to facilitate the removal of material from the chapel. The only other feature observed was a hollow quarried out of rock at one end of the trench. This was filled with soil and rubbish and sealed by the cultivation layer. It may have been one of the sources of the local stone used in building the chapel.

Truckell considers that a piece of Dark Age type clay mould, found by Radford when excavating at the Chapel, probably came from this promontory site.

C A R Radford 1957; A E Truckell 1963

On the promontory at the head of the Isle of Whithorn is a multivallate fort measuring internally 72m NE to SW by 40m consisting of 3 ramparts and 2 medial ditches with a probable 4th rampart now reduced to a slight scarp. On the seaward side of the promontory are intermittent stretches of rubble linking and utilising natural outcrops of rock and in the SE corner inner and outer faces indicating the footings of a wall up to 3.1m wide. On the levelled summit area are slight indications of rubble walling and artificial scarping on the S and E sides and in the NE corner are the possible remains of a hut circle 6.0m in diameter. There no definite indications of an entrance, but the most likely access to the fort would be from the W side.

Resurveyd at 1/2500.

Visited by OS (IA) 17 January 1973