Description

The monument consists of a prehistoric fort located on a coastal promontory on the NW coast of Canna.

The fort is formed by an almost straight wall cutting across the neck of a broad cliff-girt coastal promontory. The wall is 43m long and varies in thickness between 2.3m and 3.5m. It has a fairly straight outer face and a more irregular inner face, both marked by similar sized blocks on edge standing to a maximum height of 1m. There are traces of a probable entrance to the fort at roughly the centre point of the wall.

The interior of the fort is featureless. There are faint traces of a possible infilled ditch outside the wall. Immediately outside the wall, close to the location of the possible entrance and built over the remains of the possible ditch, are traces of a rectangular building of a later period. This structure measures about 4m by 2m.

The area to be scheduled measures 130m SW-NE by 115m NW-SE, to include the fort, later building and an area outwith the fort in which traces of activities associated with the construction and use of the fort may survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map extract.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

This monument is of national importance for its potential to contribute to an understanding of prehistoric defensive architecture and domestic life. The wall that forms the fort is quite substantial and well built and traces of structures associated with the occupation of the fort are likely to survive within.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NG 20 NW 6.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland