Description

The monument consists of the remains of a prehistoric promontory fort and of structures associated with salt making in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

The fort is a promontory, enclosed on the landward side by a wall

from 1.9m to 3m thick. On the NNE and E there are traces of an outer wall with an entrance on the E. This wall is much reduced, and in

palces survives only as a few foundation blocks and a scatter of

loose stone. The enclosed area is 30m by 23m.

To the E of the fort are the remains of a salt-pan and associated buildings. There are two elongated rectangular buildings, one 13.3m

by 4m and the other 12.7m by 3.3m internally, within walls 0.6m to

0.7m thick. The larger building is subdivided into two compartments. Both are reduced to little more than 1m in height. An associated building, 6.5m by 5.8m, has been severely robbed. This was probably

the salt-boiling pan itself. A ruined kiln stands nearby, and may be agricultural rather than connected with the salt industry. There are records that a salt-pan and works were erected by Alexander Osborne

for Uchtred Agnew of Galdenoch in about 1640, and in 1791 "two

dwelling houses and a salt pan" are recorded. They probably went out

of use shortly thereafter.

The area to be scheduled is irregular on plan, to include the

promontory fort and the salt-pan and dwelling foundations, and an

area around and between them in which evidence relating to their separate construction and use may survive, measuring a maximum of

145m NE-SW by 95m transversely, as shown in red on the accompanying

map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography
No Bibliography entries for this designation

Source: Historic Environment Scotland