Saddell House
Fort (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Saddell House
Classification Fort (Period Unassigned)
Alternative Name(s) Saddell House Policies
Canmore ID 38870
Site Number NR73SE 5
NGR NR 7948 3207
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/38870
- Council Argyll And Bute
- Parish Saddell And Skipness
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Argyll And Bute
- Former County Argyll
NR73SE 5 7948 3207
(NR 7948 3207) Fort (NR)
OS 6" map, Argyllshire, 2nd ed., (1924)
A fort measuring about 27.5m by 23m within a single wall is situated at a height of 50m OD in Pluck Wood. From the N the approach is almost level, while on the other three sides the fall of the ground is not particularly steep. Round the NW half of the perimeter the wall has been reduced to a stony scarp, but elsewhere it is represented by a band of debris up to 4.3m thick, in which two stretches of the outer face are visible. On the E the face still stands to a height of 1.1m in three courses and is constructed of large slabs. The position of the entrance is not apparent.
The only features in the interior are a comparatively recent wall, itself now ruinous, and a cairn which was erected in 1935.
RCAHMS 1971, visited 1960.
The fort is as described and planned by RCAHMS (1971). A further length of ruinous, relatively recent walling is to be seen immediately N of the modern cairn.
Surveyed at 1:10 000.
Visited by OS (JB) 23 February 1978.
Note (13 October 2014 - 23 May 2016)
This small oval fortification measures only 27m by 23m internally (0.05ha) within a wall reduced to a band of rubble about 4.3m in thickness, and while two runs of outer facing constructed of large slabs can be seen, it occupies a weak position and should not be considered a fort. Its identification by RCAHMS investigators is a manifestation of the problems of morphological classification of small drystone structures in an area where the only categories available were fort and dun, and the interior of this example exceeds the size range they employed to define duns. Had it been situated on a strong topographical feature it would have qualified under the definitions employed by the Atlas. In essence this is a fortified settlement enclosure.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 23 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC2266
