Field Visit

Date 27 June 1955

Event ID 926075

Category Recording

Type Field Visit

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/926075

RCAHMS Marginal Land Survey

FORT, FELL OF BARHULLION (Inventory No.7).

A plan of this fort was made at the date of visit. Oval in shape the fort is defended by two stone walls. The widths of these walls cannot be determined without excavation, but the inner one has been a massive affair, the debris forming a great belt of scree on the W side. There are surface indications of a possible gallery in the thickness of the inner wall on the W side of the S. entrance. A pit, 4 ft. deep, towards the N. end of this gallery, seems, however, to be stone-lined on all sides so that the existence of the gallery needs to be checked by excavation. The outer wall has been thinner, its width probably being not more than 8 ft. An unusual feature of the site is a number of stones set on end, and with pointed tops, which form an outer defence round the work, Although the majority are now only about 1 ft. in height, it is difficult to regard them as anything else than a chevaux de frise. There are some slight indications of what may be a filled-in ditch running across the rocky tip of the site at the S end. Of the two gaps in the defences, that at the S. end almost certainly represents an original entrance, while the one in the E. side may be original or secondary. The fort may possibly be a galleried dun, but excavation is needed to determine this.

374419 xxxi SW

27 June 1955.