Islay, Rubha Bhollsa
Fort (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Islay, Rubha Bhollsa
Classification Fort (Period Unassigned)
Alternative Name(s) Rubha Bholsa
Canmore ID 37779
Site Number NR37NE 4
NGR NR 3799 7830
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/37779
- Council Argyll And Bute
- Parish Killarow And Kilmeny
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Argyll And Bute
- Former County Argyll
NR37NE 4 3799 7830.
(NR 3804 7825) Fort.
Information from RCAHMS.
Centred at NR 3799 7830 is a cliff girt rocky promontory fort, only accessible from the south across a narrow neck of land. Vestiges of a stone wall survive across this neck. The wall measures 6.5m long by 2.5m thick at the entrance which is 1.2m wide. The entrance is flanked by boulders on edge on the west side and living rock on the east. The interior of the fort which measures 65.0m by 37.0m is featureless.
Surveyed at 1:10,000.
Visited by OS (JB) 28 June 1978.
Field Visit (April 1977)
NR 379 783. This fort occupies the irregular summit of a rock stack situated on the rugged headland of Rubha Bhollsa, and linked to the coastal cliffs on the S by a natural bridge less than 5m wide. On all other sides of the stack there are vertical or overhanging precipices, 30m in average height, which render the position virtually impregnable. The artificial defences consist of two short stretches of walling, one drawn across the northern end of the bridge, and the
other set on the margin of the cliffs on the SW of the stack, at the head of a steep, narrow path which gives direct but
precarious access from the seashore. The former survives as a stony bank 9m long and 2.4m thick in which several massive outer facing-stones can still be seen; the latter, probably less stoutly built in origin, has been reduced to a mere scatter of core material. At the entrance, which is situated near the E end of the better-preserved portion of walling, facing-stones of both passage-walls survive in situ, indicating that the average width was about 1.3m.
RCAHMS 1984, visited April 1977
Note (1 October 2014 - 23 May 2016)
This cliff girt promontory fort occupies an almost impregnable position on Rubha Bhollsa, a rugged headland on the remote NW coast of Islay. Measuring about 65m from ESE to WNW by a maximum of 37m transversely (0.2ha), the summit of the promontory is defended by two lengths of wall, one some 2.4m in thickness overlooking the narrow land bridge that provides access from the S, and the other at the head of a precarious path climbing from the shore on the SW. The entrance passage through the wall at the land bridge on the S is 1.3m wide. The interior is featureless.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 23 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC2157
