Creag A'chapuill
Fort (Prehistoric)
Site Name Creag A'chapuill
Classification Fort (Prehistoric)
Canmore ID 22773
Site Number NM80SE 16
NGR NM 8555 0244
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/22773
- Council Argyll And Bute
- Parish Kilmartin
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Argyll And Bute
- Former County Argyll
NM80SE 16 8555 0244.
(NM 8555 0244) Fort (NR) (remains of)
OS 1:10,000 map, (1975)
On the summit of Creag a' Chapuill - ie 'Crag of the Mare' - are the remains of one of the largest defensive structures in Argyllshire. To the south, sheer cliffs offered natural protection, but elsewhere defence was provided by a heavy wall, still traceable, and enclosing an area 600' by 750' (approx 10 acres). In the col at the NE, the wall has a slight incurve to the gate, while on the west a long stretch of wrecked wall, with a spread of 20' in places, lies along the shoulder of the hill. There are small enclosed terraces on the east, one with upright gatepost stones, and there are remains of probable huts near the summit. The site commands a very wide outlook, and is intervisible with NM80SW 15, to which it is very similar, and with other forts in the area.
M Campbell and M Sandeman 1964; D Christison 1904.
The remains of a stone wall were noted along the SE and NE sides of the summit. On the NE, the collapsed wall, broken by a stretch of natural rock has an average width of 6 metres. Elsewhere, the natural defences appear to have sufficed. No features were noted in the rocky uneven interior which rises to a height of about 17 metres above the perimeter of the summit.
Surveyed at 1:10 000 scale.
Visited by OS (W D J) 4 March 1976.
Field Visit (May 1983)
This fort occupies a large broken rock summit situated 800m NNW of Creagantairbh Beag (Campbell and Sandeman 1964). Except on the S and W, where sheer cliffs provide sufficient natural protection, the defences consist of what has been a massive wall, now well preserved only at the NE end; here, between knobs of bare rock, there are several stretches of outer facing-stones accompanied by a considerable spread of rubble, which suggest that the wall was at least 3m thick. Along the SE side the remains of the core material and intermittent lengths of the outer face followed the very edge of the cliff; a slightly lower terrace does not appear to have been defended, but there is a short stretch of walling at its NE end with a central entrance-gap.
On the N and NW, the wall has been heavily robbed, probably to provide material for the modern drystone wall at the foot of the knoll, but traces of rubble can be seen at intervals. The entrance was probably situated about the centre of the N side, where there is relatively easy access from a col.
There may have been a small cell at the NE corner, where a stretch of walling, which might be mistaken for one side of an entrance, runs into the thickness of the fort wall for a distance of 0.9m, standing to a height of 0.5m in four rough courses. Nearby there are three modern sheep-shelters.
Visited May 1983
RCAHMS 1988
Note (26 November 2014 - 4 August 2016)
This fort encloses the upper slopes of the broken and rocky hill name Creag a'Chapuill. Rounghly rectangular on plan, with cliffs falling away on the NW and SW, a single wall has been drawn along the edges of terraces and outcrops on the N and SE to enclose an area measuring a maximum of 215m from NE to SW by 195m transversely (4ha). Reduced to little more than a band of rubble, but with occasional outer facing visible along the SE side, the wall probably measures about 3m in thickness. A short length of outer wall below the NE angle blocks access to a lower terrace that runs the length of the SE side. The entrance however is probably midway along the heavily robbed N side, where the access is relatively easy. RCAHMS investigators speculated that a short length of face running back into the core of the wall at the NE corner is the remains of a small cell, but the only features visible within the interior are three small sheep pens nearby.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 04 August 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC2555
