Description

The monument comprises a fort of prehistoric date, visible as upstanding earthworks.

The monument lies on the summit of a conspicuous rocky plateau, which is situated on the seashore about 400m SSW of Quinish Point. Access to the summit may be obtained across a narrow col on the E, but on all other sides the plateau is protected by steep or precipitous rock-faces varying between 7m and 13m in height.

The fort is irregular on plan and measures 58m by 32m internally. It has been defended by a boulder-faced rubble-cored wall, which is now in a severely denuded condition, surviving for the most part as a mere spread of core material. On the S and SE, however, several stretches of outer facing-stones and one short length of the inner face have been preserved in situ, indicating that the original thickness was about 3m.

An entrance, positioned opposite the col on the SE, is now marked by a gap, about 3m wide, in the wall debris. A larger gap on the SW has presumably resulted from a collapse of the cliff-face. Apart from a ruined marker cairn of no great age, there are no ground surface indications of features in the interior.

The gully flanking the plateau on the NE is blocked near its mid-point by a mass of boulders, but whether they are tumbled remains of an outer line of defence or merely a fortuitous accumulation of boulders from the storm-beach and debris from the wall of the fort above cannot be ascertained without excavation. The various lengths of ruined walling that can be seen on the edge of natural crests to the S and E of the fort appear to be of comparatively recent origin.

Forts of this type are characteristic of the Iron Age (about 500 BC to AD 500).

The area proposed for scheduling comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related material is likely to survive. It is sub-rectangular in shape, measuring approximately 87m E-W by 90m N-S, as marked in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because of its potential to contribute to an understanding of prehistoric defended settlement and economy. Its importance is increased by its proximity to other monuments of potentially contemporary date.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NM 45 NW 4.

Bibliography:

RCAHMS (1980) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Argyll: an inventory of the monuments volume 3: Mull, Tiree, Coll and Northern Argyll (excluding the early medieval and later monuments of Iona), Edinburgh, 75-6, No. 131.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland