Losgann Larnach

NM 799 217. This fort (Fig. 40) occupies the NE summit of Beinn Mhór (182.3 m OD), which is known locally as 'Losgann Larnach' (The Toad of Lorn) because of its resemblance to a crouching toad. Unrivalled within the region for its great natural strength and the wide view that it commands over the Firth of Lorn to the NW, the summit is rendered impregnable to assault on that side and on the NE by almost vertical cliffs 6 m to 12 m in height, from the foot of which the ground falls steeply away, the seaward slopes being also encumbered by very large fallen boulders. On the S precipitous rock-faces afford moderately strong natural protection along most of the perimeter, but access to the summit is available on the SE, where the line of low cliffs is interrupted by a gully 9 m wide.

Roughly triangular on plan, the fort has measured internally about 76 m in length by a maximum of 21 min width, and has been defended by a single stone wall drawn across the more vulnerable S and SE sides. The wall, which butted against the base of a rocky boss at the SW angle and probably terminated on the brink of the precipice on the E, is now in a heavily-robbed condition, being represented merely by a stony scarp in which no facing-stones are visible. The core material is spread in places to a width of 10 m, but the original wall-thickness was probably about 4 m. The entrance was presumably located on the SE, at the head of the debris-choked gully, but its exact position can no longer be identified. The interior of the fort consists of steeply-inclined grassy shelves interspersed with rock outcrops. Two crescentic scarps at the NE end, each 5'2 m across, indicate the sites of round timber houses, and it is possible that a number of irregularly-shaped platforms elsewhere in the fort represent the remains of others.

RCAHMS 1975, visited May 1966.

Surveyed with alidade and plane-table at 1mm:1ft. Redrawn in ink and published at the reduced scale of 1:1000 (RCAHMS 1975, fig. 40).

This small fortification is situated in a spectacular position on the NE summit of the Beinn Mhor ridge, and is protected by cliffs on every side. The only access to the summit is by way of a broad gully on the SE, the top of which is barred by a thick wall spread up to 10m in thickness, which extends along the slope above the cliff-edge for the length of this side. No trace of the entrance is visible, though it is probably at the top of the gully. The rocky interior is roughly triangular on plan, measuring about 76m from NE to SW by a maximum of 21m transversely (0.12ha); two crescentic scarps about 5.2m across indicate the platform for timber round-houses in the NE end, and there are other possible examples elsewhere.

Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 18 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC2549