Cnoc A' Chinn
Dun (Prehistoric)
Site Name Cnoc A' Chinn
Classification Dun (Prehistoric)
Canmore ID 12649
Site Number NH54NE 1
NGR NH 59763 45147
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/12649
- Council Highland
- Parish Kirkhill
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Inverness
- Former County Inverness-shire
NH54NE 1 5976 4514.
(NH 5976 4514) Dun (NR)
OS 25"map, (1969)
A denuded oval fort on the highest part of a rocky ridge. It measures some 36.0 m NE-SW by 21.0 m over all, with the base course of the outer wall face of contiguous stones visible intermittently around much of the perimeter. The wall is mainly turf-covered, averaging 0.3 m high, and no definite inner facing-stones are evident, but it appears to increase in thickness from about 2.6 m in the NE to about 3.8 m at the entrance in the SW. The entrance, at the easiest point of approach, is 2.8 m wide; it is flanked on either side by stones on edge, with no evidence of a door check.
The hill is alleged to be a court-hill or place of justice (ISSFC 1885). Surveyed at 1:2500 (visited by OS (R D) 17 December 1964).
Visited by OS (A A) 25 November 1970.
Dun, Cnoc a' Chinn: This dun occupies the summit of a rocky knoll 1 km ESE of Inchberry farmhouse. Oval on plan, it measures about 27 m by 14 m within the wasted remains of a wall.
RCAHMS 1979
This is a dun, thickly overgrown with whin. Correct as described by the previous field investigator.
Revised at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (J M) 9 Feburary 1981.
Note (14 September 1943)
Fort. Kirkton.
In addition to Tom a'Chaisteal (supra) Wallace records a fort on an isolated hill west of Kirkton (1921, 340). This is evidently not Cnoc a' Chinn, on the summit of which there are no remains of any kind. There is, however, an isolated hill between Cnoc a'Chinn and Inchberry Hill, which would fit Wallace's description equally well; this could not be visited, it should be noted for examination when the Inventory is made.
Visited by RCAHMS (AG) 14 September 1943.
Field Visit (April 1979)
Cnoc a' Chinn NH 597 451 NH54NE 1
This dun occupies the summit of a rocky knoll 1 km ESE of lnchberry farmhouse. Oval on plan, it measures about 27m by 14m within the wasted remains of a wall.
RCAHMS 1979, visited April 1979
(Wallace 1886, 340-1)
Field Visit (3 January 2011 - 3 January 2011)
This dun is as described by the previous authorities. Although whin and gorse covered, a section has been cleared from E to W for the recent construction of a deer fence, causing some disturbance to both ramparts.
Visited by RCAHMS (GFG) 3 January 2011.
Note (6 March 2015 - 31 May 2016)
Currently shrouded in gorse and whins that can only be penetrated where they have been cut back to form a corridor for a deer fence, this small fortification is situated on the crest of a low ridge to the WSW of Kirkton, rather than the rather higher and steeper side ridge name Cnoc a' Chinn. Oval on plan, it measures about 27m from NE to SW by 14m transversely (0.03ha) within a wall reduced to a stony bank up to 3.8m in thickness by 0.3m in height. The line of the outer face can be traced round both the NE and SW, turning inwards to either side of an entrance 2.8m wide on the SW.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 31 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC2883
