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Islay, Borraichill Mor
Fort (Period Unknown)
Site Name Islay, Borraichill Mor
Classification Fort (Period Unknown)
Alternative Name(s) Borraniebill Mor; Port Ellen; Brahunissary
Canmore ID 37533
Site Number NR34NE 11
NGR NR 3712 4675
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/37533
- Council Argyll And Bute
- Parish Kildalton And Oa
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Argyll And Bute
- Former County Argyll
NR34NE 11 3712 4675
(NR 3710 4675) Borraichill Mor (NR) (Fort) (NR)
OS 6" map, Argyllshire, 2nd ed., (1900).
Borraichill Mor [NAT]
Fort [NR]
OS 1:10,000 map, 1981.
(South coast). Borraniebill Mor, just over a mile from the shore at Port Ellen. A bare rocky summit, 450ft [137m] above OD, is protected on the S and E by a massive double-faced wall, very well preserved and 8ft [2.4m] thick, and on the other sides by precipitous cliffs. There is a small gate [narrow entrance] on the SE, certainly not more than 6ft [1.8m] wide (only one face of the passage was exposed). The interior [was] very uneven and broken by tall rock outcrops, [and] could not be measured, but probably comprises [an area of] 1 to 3 acres.
(This is one of the two monuments that is noted by Childe as approaching 'in size or situation a hill-top town...' Its masonry is perhaps rather coarser than that noted in most of the 'castles').
V G Childe 1935, no. 10.
A fort occupying the rugged summit of Borraichill Mor and measuring 95.0m east-west by 90.0m. The wall is collapsed and survives as a stony band 1.7m to 5.0m wide and 1.0m maximum height. There is no trace of walling on either the north side or near the south east corner where almost vertical cliffs serve as a natural defence. The easiest approach is from the south east, where a footpath gives access to the fort, and this seems likely to have been the position of the entrance. Immediately within the south wall is a ditch or terrace 60m long and 40m wide with its north side formed by a bare rock face. Although quite natural this ditch has a uniform appearance probably resulting from stone
quarrying for the fort wall.
Surveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (BS), 28 June 1978.
Field Visit (June 1975)
NR 371 467. Borraichill Mor is the name given to the prominent rocky boss at the SE end of the high ground 15km N of Port Ellen. Cliffs on the N and sw, and steep slopes elsewhere, provide good natural protection.
A single massive wall was drawn round the margin of the summit to enclose an almost square area of about 0.85ha (2 acres). Consisting of a rubble core faced on each side with large blocks measuring up to 0.9m by 0.9m by 0.3m, the wall has an average thickness of about 2.2m. The best surviving stretch of the outer face is on the NE, where it is standing to a height of 1.8m; the inner face, while generally less well preserved, is still up to 1.1m high on the SE. The course of the wall can be followed almost throughout the length of the E and S sides, but on the N and SW, where it was built directly on smooth rock outcrops, it has now largely collapsed and fallen away.
The principal entrance is close to the centre of the E side, where the wall cuts across the end of a shallow gully which provides easy access to the interior of the fort. The passage, which is 1.5m wide and 2.8m long, is now largely choked with rubble, but two courses of each of the side-walls are exposed to a height of 0.7m.
Passages through the wall have also been provided at two other points, at the SE angle (a on RCAHMS plan) and towards the N end of the W side (b on RCAHMS plan), but it is not possible to determine from the visible remains whether they are posterns or merely culverts. That on the SE is 0.7m wide with walls visible to a height of at least 0.8m; three stone lintels, up to 1m long, 0.4m wide and 0.3m thick, remain in position. The other passage, on the NW, of which only an outer portion is exposed for a distance of 0.9m, is 1.1m wide but apparently not more than 1m high. The greater part of the s side is formed by a large block 0.8m high, 0.7m wide and 0.3m thick. A lozenge-shaped lintel which measures 1.8m by 1m by 0.2m thick, carries the rubble of the fort wall over the passage.
Much of the s half of the interior is occupied by rock outcrops and, apart from a short and comparatively recent boundary-wall of large boulders which crosses a shallow gully on the W, the remainder is featureless.
RCAHMS 1984, visited June 1975.
Measured Survey (1975)
RCAHMS surveyed this fort using plane-table and alidade at a scale of 1:400. The resultant plan was redrawn in ink and published at a reduced scale (RCAHMS 1984, fig. 82A).
Note (30 September 2014 - 23 May 2016)
This fort occupies the rocky summit of Borraichill Mor rising above the moorland to the NE of Port Ellen. Sub-square on plan, it measures about 90m across within a stone wall about 2.2m in average thickness. The outer face incorporates massive blocks and on the NE stands up to 1.8m high, and though the inner face is not so well-preserved this stands 1.1m high on the SE. The main entrance, which is choked with rubble, is in a shallow gully on the NE and forms a passage 2.8m in length by 1.5m in breadth. In addition narrow transverse passages 0.7m and 0.9m wide respectively can be seen within the thickness of the wall on the ESE and W respectively, that on the ESE retaining several lintels. Apart from a later enclosure formed by the insertion of a wall into a shallow gully on the WSW, the interior is featureless.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 23 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC2139
