Description

The monument comprises the remains of a fort overlain by a later settlement, surviving as upstanding earthworks. Both the fort and the settlement date probably from some time in the Iron Age, around 500 BC to AD 500.

The monument lies at a height of around 230m OD, on a knoll on a NE-facing hillslope overlooking the Kinnel Water. Roughly oval on plan, the fort is defined by a rampart which survives up to 3m wide and 0.5m high and encloses an area about 75m NE-SW by 60m transversely. Opposing entrances on the W and E sides would have given access to the interior. The rampart is best preserved on the S side where an external ditch with a counterscarp bank can also be seen; traces of the defences on the N side are very faint.

Within the interior of the fort is a later settlement, slightly overlying the rampart of the fort on the SE side. It is also oval on plan, and defined by a stony bank up to 5.3m wide and 0.3m high which encloses an area approximately 54m N-S by 40m E-W. Several possible house platforms can be seen in the interior. The two settlement entrances correspond to those of the fort, with a shallow hollow way linking the W entrance of the settlement to that of the fort.

The fort dates probably from the later first millennium BC, while the settlement will have been in use probably in the early first millennium AD.

The area to be scheduled comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive. It is circular on plan and measures a maximum of 120m in diameter, as shown in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

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Source: Historic Environment Scotland