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Seanachaisteal
Promontory Fort (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Seanachaisteal
Classification Promontory Fort (Period Unassigned)
Canmore ID 4947
Site Number NC46NW 1
NGR NC 4055 6943
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/4947
- Council Highland
- Parish Durness
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Sutherland
- Former County Sutherland
NC46NW 1 4055 6943
Not to be confused with Seanachaisteal, monastic settlement (NC 407 693), for which see NC46NW 5.
(NC 4055 6943) Seanachaisteal (NR), Site of (NAT) Brough (NR)
OS 6" map, Sutherland, 2nd ed., (1908)
Situated on a promontory - c. 100' OD - jutting into the sea and protected on all sides except the S by steep cliffs are the remains of a probable dun. It is defended on the S side by two ditches with a broad rampart, considerably mutilated, between them, cutting across the promontory. The outer ditch is c. 0.7m deep and has an average width of 11.4m. The rampart of earth and stone, measures 6.0m across its flattish top, standing 2.0m high above the outer ditch, and 1.2m above the inner ditch, which is c. 8.0m wide. On the N side of this ditch is a rocky knoll surmounted by the remains of an earth and stone rampart which has surrounded the summit of the knoll. This rampart has been considerably mutilated on the S side and the fragment on the N side stands 1.4m high; it enclosed an area of c. 13.0m by 12.0m. The knoll has been artificially scarped on the S segment to enhance the defensive situation.
Visited by OS (W D J) 9 April 1960.
(NC 4055 6943) Seanachaisteal (NR)
OS 6" map, (1961)
Seanachaisteal (Name Book 1874) or Seanchaisteal - Old Castle (J Mackay 1891) - vitrified fort (Information contained in letter from E W Mackie, also K Reid, to OS 6 July 1967.
Name Book 1874; J Mackay 1891.
As described by OS (W D J) 9 April 1960. No evidence of vitrification. Surveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (I S S) 22 July 1971.
No change to previous field reports
Visited by OS (J B) 15 September 1971.
Additional observations: The knoll is protected to the rear by crags about 6m high which fall to a terrace a few metres wide above the sea-cliffs. There are traces of a parapet along the land-facing edge of the knoll, and on the summit, against the crag, is a horseshoe-shaped depression which may be a hut foundation. There is a considerable hollow in the summit just N of the centrally placed entrance through the rampart. The rampart is accompanied by one ditch which lies below it. The site is probably a promontory fort.
R G Lamb 1980.
Note (3 February 2015 - 31 May 2016)
The triangular tip of this precipitous coastal promontory is cut off on the SSW by twin ditches with a medial rampart. The W end of the flat-topped rampart stands 2m and 1.2m respectively above the bottoms of outer and inner ditches, which themselves measure 11m and 8m in breadth; there is an entrance midway along the rampart. The ground behind these defences rises into a low knoll, the summit of which measures about 12m across and is enclosed by a stony bank up to 1.4m high where it is best preserved on the N. To the W and N, the knoll descends into a confused mass of boulders and outcrops, though there is also a grassy terrace extending along the W cliff-edge to the very tip of the promontory. Leaving aside the enclosure on the summit, which is presumably the remains of a dun, the interior measures about 75m from NNE to SSW by a maximum of 44m transversely (0.18ha) immediately behind the defences, falling away sheer to the sea along the W margin, and descending steeply through broken outcrops on the E.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 31 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC2781
