Ancient Monuments

History on the Ground

This site is entirely user-supported. See how you can help.

Greod,fort and kelp kiln 900m south east of

A Scheduled Monument in Caol and Mallaig, Highland

We don't have any photos of this monument yet. Why don't you be the first to send us one?

Upload Photo »

Approximate Location Map
Large Map »

If Google Street View is available, the image is from the best available vantage point looking, if possible, towards the location of the monument. Where it is not available, the satellite view is shown instead.

Coordinates

Latitude: 57.0465 / 57°2'47"N

Longitude: -6.4844 / 6°29'3"W

OS Eastings: 128123

OS Northings: 803984

OS Grid: NG281039

Mapcode National: GBR BBC3.4M4

Mapcode Global: WGY8Q.C4DX

Entry Name: Greod,fort and kelp kiln 900m SE of

Scheduled Date: 22 February 1994

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Source ID: SM5908

Schedule Class: Cultural

Category: Industrial: kiln, furnace, oven; Prehistoric domestic and defensive: fort (includes hill and promont

Location: Small Isles

County: Highland

Electoral Ward: Caol and Mallaig

Traditional County: Argyllshire

Description

The monument consists of a prehistoric fort on top of a rock outcrop. By the NE entrance to the fort are traces of ruined later buildings, while a short distance to the N of the fort are the remains of a kelp kiln.

The fort has been built on the top of a cliff-girt plateau. The irregularly-shaped top of the plateau measures 80m NNW-SSE by about 20m and this naturally strong location has been strengthened by the construction of a wall along the edge of the cliff on the NE, landward, side; fragments of this wall survive to a height of 0.5m.

The entrance, on the NE side, is about 2m wide and is flanked by a triangular-shaped slab on edge. About 8m to the S of the entrance are the stone foundations of a round house which measures about 7.5m in diameter. There are traces of a later structure constructed into the remains of the hut circle. Outside the entrance to the fort are the remains of two small circular buildings and another similar example lies to the SE of the crag.

These are probably the remains of post- medieval houses or shielings. Traces of stone walls are associated with these buildings. 25m N of the base of the crag are the remains

of a probable kelp kiln. This consists of two lines of stones about 4.5m long and 1.2m wide with single stones blocking both open ends.

The area to be scheduled measures 115m SSE-NNW by 70m WSW-NNE, to include the fort, the foundations of the external buildings and the kelp kiln, as shown in red on the accompanying map extract.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because of its potential contribution to an understanding of prehistoric defensive architecture and domestic settlement. The kelp kiln is of importance because it is one of a large number of similar structures on Canna and Sanday and represents a class of structures which formed a major element in the economy of the islands during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NG 20 SE 10.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Other nearby scheduled monuments

AncientMonuments.uk is an independent online resource and is not associated with any government department. All government data published here is used under licence. Please do not contact AncientMonuments.uk for any queries related to any individual ancient or schedued monument, planning permission related to scheduled monuments or the scheduling process itself.

AncientMonuments.uk is a Good Stuff website.