Arran, Dippen
Promontory Fort (Prehistoric)
Site Name Arran, Dippen
Classification Promontory Fort (Prehistoric)
Canmore ID 40109
Site Number NS02SE 2
NGR NS 0507 2240
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/40109
- Council North Ayrshire
- Parish Kilmory
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Cunninghame
- Former County Buteshire
NS02SE 2 0507 2240.
(NS 0510 2238) Fort (NR)
OS 6" map, (1924)
The dun at Dippen seems to have been faced on both sides with dry stone and filled with rubble core.
R McLellan 1970.
A promontory-type fort occupying a wedge of undulating land between two ravines to the N and S.
It comprises a single stone rampart, of large block construction, enclosing an area of approximately 1400 sq metres with maximum dimensions of 45.0m E-W by 55.0m N-S. The rampart reduces in width from 7.0m to 3.0m and in height from 2.4m to 1.0m being strongest at the N end, of easiest approach. There is no trace of facing stones or systematic rubble packing. A 3.0m wide entrance break in the central part of the rampart has no special features, and a simple gap between the end of the bank and the cliffline, at the S end, is probably a second entrance.
Differing natural levels within the densely overgrown and stone-strewn interior are exaggerated by artifical scarps, but no other trace of occupation was found.
Surveyed at 1:10,000 and 1:1000.
Visited by OS (J R L) 15 November 1977.
Field Visit (2005)
An in-depth analysis of this fort was carried out by ACFA in 2005. It was found to be similar to the description above, although the interior, which was overgrown and boulder strewn when surveyed in the 1970s, is now cleared and boulder-free.
C Primrose, I Marshall 2005
Note (8 July 2014 - 23 May 2016)
This fort occupies a steep-sided hillock that backs onto the coastal cliffs forming to the ENE of Dippen lodge. Though not a promontory projecting from these cliffs, the fort shares much in common with the character of other coastal promontory forts. Roughly triangular on plan, the cliff-edge forms its E side, while steep-slopes fall away into ravines on the N and SW, the latter being the easiest line of approach and enhanced with a stone rampart, though this has largely tumbled down the slope. Thus defined, the interior measures a maximum of 55m from N to S along the cliff-edge by 45m transversely (0.14ha). The rampart is spread between 3m and 7m in thickness, forming a scarp that varies between 1m and 2.4m in height. It is broken by a central gap some 3m wide on the SW, but also peters out short of the cliff-edge on the E; either gap may mark the position of the original entrance. The uneven interior is featureless.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 23 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC1146
Note (4 July 2018)
The location, classification and period of this site have been reviewed.
HES Survey and Recording 4 July 2018
