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Barr An Longairt
Fort (Prehistoric)
Site Name Barr An Longairt
Classification Fort (Prehistoric)
Alternative Name(s) Barr An Taolain; Auchnaha Burn South
Canmore ID 40007
Site Number NR98SW 7
NGR NR 9205 8135
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/40007
- Council Argyll And Bute
- Parish Kilfinan
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Argyll And Bute
- Former County Argyll
NR98SW 7 9205 8135.
(NR 9205 8135) Fort (NR)
OS 6" map, Argyllshire, 2nd ed., (1900)
This fort is situated on the top of an oval boss of rock which lies with its major axis NNE-SSW. The E side of the rock falls about 10' to boggy moorland; the W side is precipitous, with gentler slopes below, descending to the shore. Very little of the structure is left, and observation of internal detail was impossible due to the bracken, but enough remains to show that a wall of large, and sometimes massive, stones ran along the W side and round the N and S ends at least, though so little can be seen along the W side that it is unsafe to express any opinion on this part of the circuit. The enclosed area measures c. 140' x 72', the N extremity of the summit area remaining unenclosed. The wall is best preserved at the two ends, particularly at the S, where some very large orthostats as well as coursed masonry foundations can be seen. The entrance was situated at this end, the E side being clearly defined. Traces of the W side are so vague as to make the breadth uncertain, but if a single exposed stone is really in situ, it would have been 3'4". The wall thickness is 9'6" at the entrance.
About 80' from the S end of the fort, the whole summit is traversed by a straight depression some 10' broad, which looks like an artificial ditch, but may well be a natural feature.
M Paterson 1970; G A F Knight 1937.
An oval fort, measuring 39.5m N-S by 22.0m, within a wall up to 2.8m wide. Massive outer facing stones exist where the wall is best preserved on the SE. Little survives on the W, where a steep crag affords adequate defence. Two entrances are visible, one on the E (1.8m wide) and the other on the SSW. An extension of the wall to the SW terminates on the end of the crag.
The straight depression in the interior of the fort is probably natural.
Revised at 1:10560.
Visited by OS (D W R) 2 November 1972.
Field Visit (15 September 1942)
This site was included within the RCAHMS Emergency Survey (1942-3), an unpublished rescue project. Site descriptions, organised by county, vary from short notes to lengthy and full descriptions and are available to view online with contemporary sketches and photographs. The original typescripts, manuscripts, notebooks and photographs can also be consulted in the RCAHMS Search Room.
Information from RCAHMS (GFG) 10 December 2014.
Field Visit (June 1985)
This fort occupies the summit of an elongated rocky ridge situated in Barr an Taolain forestry plantation about 400m E of the shore of Loch Fyne and 250m S of the fort NR98SW 6. The ridge is aligned roughly N and S with a sheer cliff on the W, which afforded strong natural protection on this flank; elsewhere the summit of the ridge was defended by a stout wall enclosing an area some 40m by 22m. The wall was constructed of massive blocks, particularly in its foundation courses, and several stretches of outer and inner facing-stones remain in position, notably on the SE. The main entrance is on the E, but there is also a gap in the wall on the SW. The interior is featureless apart from a natural depression on the W and the foundations of a small bothy which abuts the inner line of the fort wall on the E.
Visited June 1985
RCAHMS 1988
Measured Survey (5 June 1985)
RCAHMS surveyed Barr an Taolain fort on 05 June 1985 with plane-table and alidade producing a plan at a scale of 1:100. The plan of the fort was redrawn in ink and published at a scale of 1:250 (RCAHMS 1988a, 37).
Note (31 October 2014 - 23 May 2016)
Enclosing the summit of a low ridge, which drops away in a cliff along its W flank, there is an oval fortification measuring 40m from NNE to SSW by 22m transversely (0.07ha), within a wall up to 3m in thickness. Several runs of both faces are visible, constructed with massive blocks, but there is little trace of the wall extending along the cliff-edge on the W. There is an entrance on the E and another gap in the wall on the SW. Apart from a bothy butted against the wall on the E, the interior is featureless.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 23 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC2477
