SC2450: Arran, Drumadoon, The Doon |
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HER: The West of Scotland Archaeology Service 3790
NMR: NR 82 NE 1 (39199)
SM: 4415
NGR: NR 8860 2925
X: 188600 Y: 629250 (EPSG:27700)
Boundary: ✗
This large fort, the largest on Arran, occupies a low hill backing onto the cliffs of the coastal escarpment on the W, and elsewhere flanked by steep grassy slopes. The defences comprise a single rampart, largely reduced to a grass-grown bank up to 5m in thickness by 1m in height, from which large stones protrude through the turf. On the occasion of a visit in August 2009 (SH), a cut through the rampart by fencing contractors on the N side of the entrance midway along the E side revealed that it is composed of earth and stones, and probably roughly faced; six sherds of Grooved Ware were recovered from beneath it. The rampart follows the margins of the hill to create an irregular shape on plan, and the interior measures 390m from NNE to SSW by a maximum of 165m transversely (4.57ha). The only feature visible within it is an upright stone some 1.8m broad by 0.3m thick and 1.5m high.
| Citizen Science: | ✓ | John Lumley |
| Reliability of Data: | Confirmed |
| Reliability of Interpretation: | Confirmed |
X: -595520 Y: 7461712 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -5.349643 Latitude: 55.511166 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority: North Ayrshire
Historic County: Buteshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Kilmory
| Extant: | ✓ |
| Cropmark: | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed: | ✗ |
| Woodland: | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation: | ✗ |
| Parkland: | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing): | ✓ |
| Arable: | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken: | ✓ |
| Bare Outcrop: | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland: | ✓ |
| Heath: | ✗ |
| Built-up: | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
| Contour Fort: | ✓ |
| Partial Contour Fort: | ✗ |
| Promontory Fort: | ✗ |
| Hillslope Fort: | ✗ |
| Level Terrain Fort: | ✗ |
| Marsh Fort: | ✗ |
| Multiple Enclosure Fort: | ✗ |
| Hilltop: | ✓ |
| Coastal Promontory: | ✗ |
| Inland Promontory: | ✗ |
| Valley Bottom: | ✗ |
| Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop: | ✗ |
| Ridge: | ✗ |
| Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp: | ✗ |
| Hillslope: | ✗ |
| Lowland: | ✗ |
| Spur: | ✗ |
Dominant Topographic Feature: ✗
| North: | ✗ |
| Northeast: | ✗ |
| East: | ✗ |
| Southeast: | ✗ |
| South: | ✗ |
| Southwest: | ✗ |
| West: | ✗ |
| Northwest: | ✗ |
| Level: | ✓ |
Altitude: 55.0m
| Boundary Type: | ✗ |
Second HER: ✗
Second Current County or Unitary Authority: ✗
Second Historic County: ✗
Second Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: ✗
In the absence of excavation, there are neither stratified artefacts nor radiocarbon dates to provide a chronology for the defences.
Reliability: D - None
| Pre 1200BC: | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC: | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC: | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50: | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400: | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800: | ✗ |
| Post AD800: | ✗ |
| Unknown: | ✓ |
| Pre Hillfort Activity: | ✓ | Grooved ware recovered from beneath the rampart; the upright stone in the interior may be an earlier standing stone. |
| Post Hillfort Activity: | ✗ |
| None: | Grooved Ware recovered from beneath the rampart. |
Mentioned by Martin Martin about 1695 and subsequently visited by Thomas Pennant in the late 18th century (see Balfour 1910, 189-91), the fort has been long known before appearing on the 1st edition of the OS 25-inch map. Aerial photographs were taken by RCAHMS in 1996 and again in 2013.
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1695): | Noted by Martin Martin (1703, 221) |
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1864): | Annotated Fort on 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Argyll and Bute 1868, sheet 253.3; 1869, sheet 248.15) |
| Earthwork Survey (1910): | Plan by Angus McAlister based on OS and description (Balfour 1910, 188-91) |
| Other (1977): | Surveyed by the OS at 1:10,000 |
| Other (1987): | Scheduled |
| Other (2009): | Visit by SH reveals damage to the rampart |
| Other (2010): | Rough section drawn by I Marshall and G Hearns (WoSAS Digital Archive 4502) |
Featureless apart from the upright stone
Spring noted by Balfour (1910, 191)
| None: | ✗ |
| Spring: | ✓ |
| Stream: | ✗ |
| Pool: | ✗ |
| Flush: | ✗ |
| Well: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
| No Known Features: | ✓ |
| Round Stone Structures: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Stone Structures: | ✗ |
| Curvilinear Platforms: | ✗ |
| Other Roundhouse Evidence: | ✗ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
| No Known Excavation: | ✓ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Postholes: | ✗ |
| Roundhouses: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures: | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks: | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
| Nothing Found: | ✗ |
| No Known Geophysics: | ✓ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Roundhouses: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures: | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks: | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
| Nothing Found: | ✗ |
| No Known Finds: | ✓ |
| Pottery: | ✗ |
| Metal: | ✗ |
| Metalworking: | ✗ |
| Human Bones: | ✗ |
| Animal Bones: | ✗ |
| Lithics: | ✗ |
| Environmental: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
NO APPARENT FEATURES
| APs Not Checked: | ✗ |
| None: | ✓ |
| Roundhouses: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures: | ✗ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Postholes: | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
See main summary
| Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts: | 1 |
| Number of Possible Original Entrances: |
Guard Chambers: ✗
| Chevaux de Frise: | ✗ |
| Entrance 1 (East): | Simple Gap |
Single rampart along the more accessible eastern flank.
| Enclosed Area 1: | 4.57ha. |
| Enclosed Area 2: | ✗ |
| Enclosed Area 3: | ✗ |
| Enclosed Area 4: | ✗ |
| Total Enclosed Area: | 4.6ha. |
Total Footprint Area: ✗
| Multi-period Enclosure System: | ✗ |
| Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit: | ✗ |
| Number of Ramparts: | 1 |
| Number of Ramparts NE Quadrant: | 1 |
| Number of Ramparts SE Quadrant: | 1 |
| Number of Ramparts SW Quadrant: | ✗ |
| Number of Ramparts NW Quadrant: | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate: | ✓ |
| Univallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate: | ✗ |
| Bivallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate: | ✗ |
| Multivallate: | ✗ |
| Unknown: | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate: | ✗ |
| Univallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate: | ✗ |
| Bivallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate: | ✗ |
| Multivallate: | ✗ |
Earth and stone rampart where exposed at the entrance
| None: | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank: | ✓ |
| Stone Wall: | ✗ |
| Rubble: | ✗ |
| Wall-walk: | ✗ |
| Evidence of Timber: | ✗ |
| Vitrification: | ✗ |
| Other Burning: | ✗ |
| Palisade: | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank: | ✗ |
| Berm: | ✗ |
| Unfinished: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
But exposed in section by damage at the entrance
| None: | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank: | ✓ |
| Stone Wall: | ✓ |
| Murus Duplex: | ✗ |
| Timber-framed: | ✗ |
| Timber-laced: | ✗ |
| Vitrification: | ✗ |
| Other Burning: | ✗ |
| Palisade: | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank: | ✗ |
| Berm: | ✗ |
| Unfinished: | ✗ |
| No Known Excavation: | ✓ |
| Other: | ✗ |
| Gang Working: | ✗ |
Ditches: ✗
| Number of Ditches: |
| Annex: | ✗ |
Balfour, J A (ed.) (1910) The book of Arran, Archaeology. Hugh Hopkins: Glasgow
Headrick, J (1807) View of the mineralogy, agriculture, manufactures and fisheries of the island of Arran, with notices of antiquities and suggestions for improving the agriculture and fisheries of the highlands and islands of Scotland, Edinburgh (p 158)
Martin, M (1703) A description of the Western Islands of Scotland. Andrew Bell: London
McLellan, R (1977) Ancient monuments of Arran: official guide, Edinburgh (p 78)
Atlas of Hillforts: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk/?query=Atlas_of_Hillforts_4166_0%2CMain_Atlas_Number%2C2450
Wikidata: http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q31096029
The online version of the Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland should be cited as:
Lock, G. and Ralston, I. 2017. Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland. [ONLINE] Available at: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.