Garraron, Dun An Garbh - Sroine

The remains of this fortification occupy the summit of a steep-sided ridge close to the shore of Asknish Bay on the S approach to Loch Melfort. It consists of a large polygonal enclosure covering an area of about 0.18ha contained within a substantial drystone rubble wall; the wall varies between 2m and 3m in thickness and stands to a maximum internal height of 1.2m. Despite the irregular undulating character of the summit area the enclosure is markedly straight-sided, being made up of straight lengths of walling and squared angles; even on the N and W flanks, where the wall follows the edge of a rocky precipice, there are few curved stretches of walling or rounded angles. The overall plan is roughly oblong with a triangular spur extending towards a rocky outcrop at the NE end of the ridge (en.1).

The main entrance (A) is located in the NE re-entrant angle. It stands at the head of a natural gully which has been further protected by outworks at a lower level, now represented by a footings-course and a band of stony debris. Christison (en.2) also refers to an additional rampart in front of the SW angle, but this is up cast material from an adjacent ditch which has probably been excavated in modern times. A mural embrasure in the NW flank (B) contains what appears to be a narrow postern-gateway at the head of a steep and partly rock-cut stair. There are two more embrasures of uncertain purpose placed towards the S end of the W wall, and a narrower opening (C) in the E wall opens on to the foundations of an oblong external turret or buttress. A slab-lintelled drain runs beneath the SW wall at D; vestiges of similar drains are also to be found in the N wall of embrasure B and a short distance to the NE of C.

The platform at E is the highest point within the enclosure, but, although a likely building-stance, it bears no traces of prehistoric or later activity. The only defined structural remains in the interior are the stone foundations of an open-ended building or enclosure at F. A damp hollow at the SW corner of the site may indicate the position of the water-supply, but the 'well of 9 by 6 feet [2.7m by l.8m] wide. .. filled with rubbish' recorded in 1843 (en.3), is no longer visible. These remains do not conform with any common type of Scottish medieval fortification, but some of the characteristics of the layout and walling are shared by the barmkins or enclosures attached to a number of sites in Lorn (en.4). Its period of construction is uncertain, but Lergychoniemore, of which Garraron originally formed apart, was possessed by the Mclver Campbell family during the later Middle Ages, and the site may have been occupied by them from at least the 14th century until the 17th century (en.5*).

RCAHMS 1992, visited May 1984

RCAHMS surveyed the fortification at Dun an Garbh-sroine in 1984 with plane-table and alidade producing a site plan at a scale of 1:400. The plan was redrawn in ink and published at a scale of 1:1000 (RCAHMS 1992, 263).

This polygonal enclosure of 1.8ha within a drystone wall from 2m to 3m in thickness, which is situated on a hillock between Garraron and the sea, was first noted as a 'stronghold' in 1843 (NSA, 7, Argyll, 54) and annotated 'Fort' on the 1st edition OS 6-inch map (Argyll and Bute 1875, sheet 130). It was recorded as such by David Christison about 1888, though he noted its unusual character (1889, 417-18, fig 41), and accepted by Angus Graham (1948, 57-8). Marion Campbell and Mary Sandeman, however, voiced the opinion that its straight lines, embrasures and the entrance in a re-entrant indicated that it may be a castle, or at the very least had been reused in the medieval period (1962, 46). The RCAHMS County Inventory accepts this attribution (RCAHMS 1992, 263, no.124), suggesting that it may have been occupied by the McIver Campbell familly from at least the 14th to the 17th centuries, but that it was constructed in an 'earlier tradition' (RCAHMS 1992, 19), implicitly referencing drystone fortifications in Argyll dating from the Iron Age and early medieval period. Suffice it to say that the location is typical of earlier forts, though nothing earlier than the castle enclosure has been identified here.

Information from Stratford Halliday, 27th November 2014

This polygonal enclosure of 1.8ha within a drystone wall from 2m to 3m in thickness, which is situated on a hillock between Garraron and the sea, was first noted as a 'stronghold' in 1843 (NSA, 7, Argyll, 54) and annotated 'Fort' on the 1st edition OS 6-inch map (Argyll and Bute 1875, sheet 130). It was recorded as such by David Christison about 1888, though he noted its unusual character (1889, 417-18, fig 41), and accepted by Angus Graham (1948, 57-8). Marion Campbell and Mary Sandeman, however, voiced the opinion that its straight lines, embrasures and the entrance in a re-entrant indicated that it may be a castle, or at the very least had been reused in the medieval period (1962, 46). The RCAHMS County Inventory accepts this attribution (RCAHMS 1992, 263, no.124), suggesting that it may have been occupied by the McIver Campbell familly from at least the 14th to the 17th centuries, but that it was constructed in an 'earlier tradition' (RCAHMS 1992, 19), implicitly referencing drystone fortifications in Argyll dating from the Iron Age and early medieval period. Suffice it to say that the location is typical of earlier forts, though nothing earlier than the castle enclosure has been identified here.

Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 18 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC2551