Duine, Ardfern
Dun (Prehistoric)(Possible), Fortified House (Medieval)(Possible)
Site Name Duine, Ardfern
Classification Dun (Prehistoric)(Possible), Fortified House (Medieval)(Possible)
Alternative Name(s) Fort
Canmore ID 22585
Site Number NM70SE 7
NGR NM 7919 0280
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/22585
- Council Argyll And Bute
- Parish Craignish
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Argyll And Bute
- Former County Argyll
NM70SE 7 7919 0280.
(NM 7919 0279) Fort (NR)
OS 6" map, Argyllshire, 2nd ed., (1900)
This dun, of which virtually no stonework survives (Campbell {1964} considers it may be an earthwork, or have had stone-faced earth walls), occupied the summit area of a small hillock, measuring 70' by 55', with a good outlook. It has a sunken approach from S through W, and has a possibly earthwalled rectangular building inside.
M Campbell and M Sandeman 1964; A Graham 1950.
Occupying the oval summit of a steep-sided rocky hillock is a dun measuring 21.0m NE-SW x 13.5m transversely and defined by the remains of a grassed-over stone wall now no more than 2.0m wide. The probable entrance is in the SW. Across the centre of the dun and oriented NW-SE is a later rectangular enclosure formed by an earthen bank 2.2m wide and 0.6m high, the NW and SE ends overlying the wall of the dun.
Surveyed at 1:10 000.
Visited by OS (WDJ) 17 April 1970.
Field Visit (April 1984)
The remains of a rectangular building occupy the summit of a small flat-topped hillock about 70m NE of Duine cottage, formerly known as South Corranmore (en.1), and a similar distance from the NE shore of Loch Craignish. The hillock is for the most part steeply scarped and there are rocky outcrops on the S flank. A gully in the W sector may have formed part of an approach to the summit. The fields sloping away to the N of the site bear traces of ploughing.
The building is aligned roughly NW-SE and measures 16m by 10m over walls 1.3m in average thickness. The walls are of turf-covered drystone construction, with no visible traces of lime mortar, and stand to an average height of about 0.5m.There is an entrance at the N end of the E side-wall, and a slight depression in a corresponding position in the opposite wall probably marks another entrance. Short stretches of walling extend laterally from the corners at the SW end of the building, and in the S sector appear to form a small annexe or enclosure adjacent to the main building. Outside the main entrance in the N sector of the summit area there are bands of stony debris incorporating some facing-stones, possibly representing parts of a kerb or revetment.
There is no visible evidence for the earlier occupation that has been suggested for the site (en.2). Although lacking closely dateable features, the building probably belongs to either the medieval or immediate post-medieval periods. The 1797 map of the Craignish estate shows that this site evidently lay just within the boundary of the adjacent lands of Corranmore, and the building may have formerly served as a residence for a branch of the Campbells of Craignish who in the 15th and 16th centuries took their title from Corranmore (en.3).
RCAHMS 1992, visited April 1984
Measured Survey (1984)
RCAHMS surveyed the fortified dwelling at Duine, Ardfern in 1984 with plane-table and alidade producing a site plan at a scale of 1:200. The plan was redrawn in ink and published at a scale of 1:1000 (RCAHMS 1992, 262B).
Watching Brief (6 April 2017)
NM 79149 02806 A watching brief was kept on 6 April 2017 during the replacement of a pole on an 11kv overhead power line near Ardfern. The work was undertaken due to its proximity to a fort or dun (NM70SE 7), but nothing of archaeological significance was recorded.
Archive and report: NRHE
Funder: SSEN
John Lewis – Scotia Archaeology
(Source: DES, Volume 18)
OASIS ID: scotiaar1-283802
