Field Visit
Date 15 May 1957
Event ID 926064
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/926064
Fort, Easter Rarichie:
This fort is situated on a knoll which rises from the lower part of the NE slope of the Hill of Nigg, 650 yards S of Easter Rarichie farmhouse. The remains are ruinous, having suffered from stone-robbing and the encroachment of the plough as well as from natural decay. They consist of several separate features, the innermost of which is a small stone-walled structure which crowns the knoll. This is represented by a stony mound about 12 feet in thickness surrounding an area about 35 feet in diameter. On the N arc several continuous outer facing stones still remain in situ and there is a gap in the SE arc that represents an entrance. The thickness of the wall suggests that the structure may have been a dun (A more ruinous example of a similar structure NH87SW 8, with an internal diameter of about 30' is situated on a small knoll 200 yards to the W). The dun stands within the slight remains of a stone wall (I) which enclose an area 170 feet from E to W by 80 feet transversely. For the most part this feature now appears only as a slight scarp from which a few boulders protrude. The entrance is in the SE. A second wall (II) lies below this to enclose an area measuring 210 feet from E to W by 160 feet transversely. Although it is as ruinous as wall I, more loose boulders and stones occur along its course. The entrance is in the E.
The ruin of wall II overlies the N, S, and W arcs of rampart III, the E part of which runs off beyond the points where the E arc of wall II turns. This rampart, now a mere crest-line above the scarped flanks of the knoll, encloses and area 300 feet from E to W by 160 feet transversely, and the entrance is in the E. The next line of defence is a rampart (IV) partly formed by adapting the lowest part of the knoll and partly by a rubble mound. The whole of the S sector of this rampart lay on level ground below the knoll, and was entirely removed when the land on which it was built was ploughed. The slight remains of a similar rampart (V) lie outside the SE arc of IV, and appear to have been truncated in the same way.
It is possible to suggest that at least two main structural phases can be distinguished among the six defensive features that are crowded on to the knoll, despite their ruinous condition. The original work may have consisted of rampart III as the innermost line, and those numbered IV and V as its outer defences. The second phase may be represented at least by the walls I and II, and possibly by the dun as well. It must always be borne in mind that the dun may represent a third, separate, phase of occupation.
NH 844 735, OS Sheet lv
Visited by RCAHMS 15 May 1957
