Field Visit
Date 3 September 1943
Event ID 990637
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/990637
This fort, which is simply indicated on the 6 in. OS map by the place-name 'An Dun', in Roman type, is situated on a ridge-like summit about 600 ft. high which rises from the right bank of the Orrin about half a mile NNW of Cornhill. The highest point of the ridge is at its W end, and from here it descends E for about 400 ft., with precipitous sides on the N and S, to the lip of the steep slope that falls in that direction towards the valley. About 100 ft. W of this lip the ridge is traversed by the innermost rampart of a system of defences which faces W towards the summit. The ridge here is about 90 ft. broad, and the rampart, which now consists of a mere rickle of stony debris with some traces of a built face showing on its W side, is 15 ft. thick on the axis of the ridge and markedly convex towards the W. Eleven feet outside the face of the first rampart the ground begins to slope upwards to the second, evidently another construction of stonework but largely overgrown; the actual inner edge of the rampart is 19 ft. outside the face of the first, while its crest, which is 5 ft. high, and its outer edge are, respectively, 7 ft. and 15 ft. further W. The crest of the second rampart is 3 ft. high. The second rampart crosses the ridge in the same manner as the first, and on the S side connects with another defensive bank which returns E to connect with the first rampart towards its S end. A third rampart, 9 ft. thick and 2 ft. 6 in. high, is met 11 ft. W of the outer edge of the second; this likewise spans the ridge, which is here narrowing, and returns E at its S end. In the returned portion two very large blocks of stone appear, one of them 5 ft. in length, and the outer face of the rampart is defined by a row of large rounded bouldres. The extreme W end of the defensive system consists of a D-shaped enclosure whcih projects 16 ft. along the axial line beyond the W face of the third rampart. This is of slighter construction than the rest of the works, and is the only part of them in which any wall appears along the lip of the precipitous N slope. A local tradition states that this enclosure has been used as a burying ground.
The foregoing account was prepared after an unavoidably hurried visit when the site was largely obscured by bracken; while it is probably correct in the main, many details may be wrong and a definitive description should be based on a proper survey. The general similarlity of this fort to the one on Craig Dhu, Kilmorack Parish, should be noted.
Visited by RCAHMS (AG) 3 September 1943.
