Description

The monument comprises a vitrified fort which is situtated on Trudernish Point, a prominent headland that juts north-eastwards between Claggain Bay and Aros Bay. Three stone walls are drawn across the neck of the promontory to cut off an area measuring 30m by 25m.

The inner wall is massive, standing to a height of 3.2m externally; some of the core has been vitrified and much of the rest of the rubble has been shattered by heat. The entrance probably lay near the centre. The medial wall is better preserved and lengths of the outer face survive; no vitrifaction can be seen. The fragmentary remains of the outer wall have been incorporated into a drystone wall of no great age.

The area to scheduled measures 80m NE-SW by 70m transversely to include the fort and an area around in which evidence associated with its construction and use may survive, as marked in red on the attached map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because it forms the well-preserved remains of a later prehistoric vitrified fort probably dating to the second half of the first millenium BC; unusually it is one of two vitrified forts and a vitrified dun which are situated in similar coastal locations within a short distance of each other, all of which are defended by outer walls. This group of monuments may be contemporary and therefore have the potential to provide comparative information about prehistoric architecture, economy, and social organisation and structure.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NR 45 SE 10.

Reference:

RCAHMS 1984, The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Argyll: an inventory of the monuments volume 5: Islay, Jura, Colonsay and Oronsay, Edinburgh, No. 168.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland