Islay, Sgairail
Fort (Period Unknown)
Site Name Islay, Sgairail
Classification Fort (Period Unknown)
Canmore ID 37785
Site Number NR37NW 1
NGR NR 3498 7534
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/37785
- Council Argyll And Bute
- Parish Killarow And Kilmeny
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Argyll And Bute
- Former County Argyll
NR37NW 1 3498 7534.
(NR 349 753) Fort
Information from RCAHMS.
At NR 3498 7532, around the summit of a cliff-girt rock stack, are the vestigial remains of a wall, so reduced by erosion that it has almost disappeared and no thickness can be obtained. The summit area is 50.0m N-S by 16.5m E-W. Toward the north end is a sub-oval cell measuring 6.0m by 4.5m within a heather-covered wall spread to 1.5m wide and up to 0.3m high. Another possible cell, but smaller, occurs close by.
These scant remains are probably those of a fort, but the one, possibly two cells may indicate an early monastic site, though no tradition is known locally.
Surveyed at 1:10 000.
Visited by OS (NKB) 29 June 1978.
This fort occupies the summit of an elongated rocky stack situated on the foreshore at Sgairail, about 850m NE of the
mouth of the Doodilmore River. The landward or E side of the stack presents a steep or vertical rock-face up to 10m
high, but the seaward side, although still affording strong natural protection, is less steep and is broken at several
points by natural ramps or gullies which offer easier access to the summit. The fort is irregular on plan and measures about 36m by 16m internally, the main defence consisting of a wall with an earth-and-stone core drawn round the edge of the summit. Portions of the wall have been destroyed by the collapse of the rock face, and for most of the rest of its circuit no more than a low bank of stony debris survives. Several outer facing-stones, however, can still be seen in the S half and at one point on the SW the outer face is preserved to a height of 0.5m in three courses.
Additional defence was provided by two outworks which took the form of short lengths of walling drawn across the lines of easier approach on the N; both have been severely denuded by stone-robbing, but in the better-preserved
example, at the mouth of a relatively broad gully, two short stretches of outer facing-stones survive. The position of the
entrance is uncertain, and the interior, which contains two crescentic scarps of natural origin, is largely heather-grown
and covered by a dense accumulation of peat.
RCAHMS 1984
Measured Survey (1977)
RCAHMS surveyed the fort Sgairail 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. 100A).
Note (1 October 2014 - 23 May 2016)
This small fortification occupies a detached stack projecting out across the foreshore on the NW coast of Islay. Irregular on plan, it measures about 36m from N to S by 16m transversely (0.06ha) within the remains of a wall that can be traced around most of the margin of the summit. While the lanndward side on the E presents a sheer cliff, on the W and N the slope descends less steeply and on the N two additional short lengths of wall have been built lower down the slope to block possible lines of approach. The position of the entrance, however, is unknown, and the interior is featureless.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 23 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC2158
