Note
Date 9 December 1992
Event ID 745658
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Note
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/745658
NO13NW 5.08 1290 3956.
Traditionally known as 'The Redoubt' and planned by Roy, this enclosure is situated near the NE corner of the plateau to the E of the fortress (NO13NW 5.00). Erosion of the escarpment has destroyed all trace of the defensive perimeter on the SE, but excavation (by Richmond and St Joseph) in 1965 demonstrated that there was probably never more than a simple rampart on this side. Elsewhere, the rampart survives to a greatest height of 1.5m and a breadth of at least 6m, and has an external ditch which measures between 2.2 and 4m in width and up to 4.6m deep.
The area enclosed was about 150m by 130m (1.4ha) and there was a single-portal entrance in the NW side, unusually near the W angle, but at about the closest point to the SE gate of the fortress.
No structures were identified in the interior, but the Roman date of the compound is proved beyond doubt by the associated pottery. A direct connection with the fortress may be suggested by the unusual location of the entrance, but whether this belongs to an early stage in the construction-programme, or to the demolition phase, cannot be determined.
Traces of an earlier ditch (of unknown date and purpose) were also discovered in the course of excavation.
Information from RCAHMS (JRS) 9 December 1992.
W Roy 1793; L F Pitts and J K St Joseph 1985.
