Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC2895: Ord Hill, Kessock  

(Ord of Kessock)

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HER:  Highland HER MHG8258

NMR:  NH 64 NE 37 (13389)

SM:  2499

NGR:  NH 6640 4910

X:  266400  Y:  849100  (EPSG:27700)

Boundary:  

Summary

This large fort occupies the summit of Ord Hill, the ridge of high ground commanding the N side of the narrows at the mouth of the Beauly Firth opposite Inverness. Irregular on plan and roughly following the contours of the hill, it measures about 265m from NE to SW by a maximum of 110m transversely within a wall that forms a mound of rubble some 6m thick where it is best preserved on the relatively easy line of approach along the spine of the ridge on the SW. Elsewhere its line is more difficult to follow, but can be traced intermittently around the whole summit, though nothing is currently visible of the stretch of massive vitrifaction noted in 1957 by RCAHMS investigators towards the SW end of the SE flank; according to George Anderson writing in 1824, small fragments of vitrifaction could also be found along the line of the wall on the opposite flank (Anderson 1857). There is at least one entrance at the SW end where the ground falls away sharply along the SE flank of the hill, and additional protection is provided by a thick outer wall spanning the ridge. Alan Ayre of the OS suggested there had been a third wall here, but no trace of this was found in the course of a more recent survey drawn up in 2011 by Headland Archaeology; likewise a second entrance suggested by Keith Blood along the NW margin of the ridge at this end was not found. Apart from a modern marker cairn, the rough and uneven interior of the fort is featureless.

Status

Citizen Science:  ✗  

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -471087  Y:  7865576  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -4.231842  Latitude:  57.512389  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Highland

Historic County:   Ross-shire

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Knockbain

Condition

Extant:  
Cropmark:  
Likely Destroyed:  

Land Use

Planted

Woodland:  
Commercial Forestry Plantation:  
Parkland:  
Pasture (Grazing):  
Arable:  
Scrub/Bracken:  
Bare Outcrop:  
Heather/Moorland:  
Heath:  
Built-up:  
Coastal Grassland:  
Other:  

Landscape

Hillfort Type

Contour Fort:  
Partial Contour Fort:  
Promontory Fort:  
Hillslope Fort:  
Level Terrain Fort:  
Marsh Fort:  
Multiple Enclosure Fort:  

Topographic Position

Hilltop:  
Coastal Promontory:  
Inland Promontory:  
Valley Bottom:  
Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop:  
Ridge:  
Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp:  
Hillslope:  
Lowland:  
Spur:  

Dominant Topographic Feature:  

Aspect

North:  
Northeast:  
East:  
Southeast:  
South:  
Southwest:  
West:  
Northwest:  
Level:  

Elevation

Altitude:  190.0m

Boundary

Boundary Type:  

Second HER:  

Second Current County or Unitary Authority:  

Second Historic County:  

Second Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  

Dating Evidence

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:  ✗  

Post Hillfort Activity:  ✗  

None:  No details.

Investigations

Highland HER also hold photographs

1st Identified Written Reference (1824):  Descriptions by Sir Goerge Mackenzie and George Anderson sent to Samuel Hibbert (Mackenzie 1857; Anderson 1857)
1st Identified Map Depiction (1872):  Annotated Fort on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Ross-shire 1880, sheet 100.8)
Earthwork Survey (1918):  Sketch-plan and description (Wallace 1918, 95)
Other (1955):  Description (Woodham 1955, 148)
Earthwork Survey (1957):  Sketch-plan and description for RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands (RCAHMS RCD 1/1 & DP148824; Feachem 1963, 148)
Other (1965):  Scheduled
Earthwork Survey (1970):  Surveyed at 1:2500 by Keith Blood of the OS
Other (1974):  Visited by the OS
Other (1978):  Visited by RCAHMS
Other (1993):  Re-Scheduled
Other (2002):  Visit and photographs by Highland HER staff
Earthwork Survey (2011):  Plan and description by Headland Archaeology (2011)
Other (2015):  Visited by S Halliday; no evidence of vitrifaction found

Interior Features

Featureless apart from a marker cairn

Water Source

None:  
Spring:  
Stream:  
Pool:  
Flush:  
Well:  
Other:  

Surface

No Known Features:  
Round Stone Structures:  
Rectangular Stone Structures:  
Curvilinear Platforms:  
Other Roundhouse Evidence:  
Pits:  
Quarry Hollows:  
Other:  

Excavation

No Known Excavation:  
Pits:  
Postholes:  
Roundhouses:  
Rectangular Structures:  
Roads/Tracks:  
Quarry Hollows:  
Other:  
Nothing Found:  

Geophysics

No Known Geophysics:  
Pits:  
Roundhouses:  
Rectangular Structures:  
Roads/Tracks:  
Quarry Hollows:  
Other:  
Nothing Found:  

Finds

No Known Finds:  
Pottery:  
Metal:  
Metalworking:  
Human Bones:  
Animal Bones:  
Lithics:  
Environmental:  
Other:  

Aerial

Obscured by trees

APs Not Checked:  
None:  
Roundhouses:  
Rectangular Structures:  
Pits:  
Postholes:  
Roads/Tracks:  
Other:  

Entrances

See main summary

Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts:  2:  Discontinuous and only Intermittently visible rampart

Number of Possible Original Entrances:   

Guard Chambers:  

Chevaux de Frise:  ✗  

Entrance 1 (Southwest):  Simple Gap:  Along the S margin of the summit
Entrance 2 (Northwest):  Simple Gap:  Possible second entrance identified by the OS on the NW margin of the summit

Enclosing Works

Single wall enclosing the summit with at least one, and possibly two outer walls on the SW

Enclosed Area 1:  1.6ha.
Enclosed Area 2:  
Enclosed Area 3:  
Enclosed Area 4:  
Total Enclosed Area:  1.6ha.

Total Footprint Area:  

Multi-period Enclosure System:  ✗  

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:  ✓  

Number of Ramparts:  2

Number of Ramparts NE Quadrant:  1
Number of Ramparts SE Quadrant:  1
Number of Ramparts SW Quadrant:  2
Number of Ramparts NW Quadrant:  1

Current Morphology

Partial Univallate:  
Univallate:  
Partial Bivallate:  
Bivallate:
Partial Multivallate:  
Multivallate:  
Unknown:  

Multi-period Morphology

Partial Univallate:  
Univallate:  
Partial Bivallate:  
Bivallate:  
Partial Multivallate:  
Multivallate:  

Surface Evidence

Vitrifaction claimed, but none visible in 2015

None:  
Earthen Bank:  
Stone Wall:  
Rubble:  
Wall-walk:  
Evidence of Timber:  
Vitrification:  
Other Burning:  
Palisade:  
Counter Scarp Bank:  
Berm:  
Unfinished:  
Other:  

Excavated Evidence

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

Gang Working:  ✗ 

Ditches

Ditches:  

Number of Ditches:  

Annex

Annex:  ✗  

References

Anderson, G (1857) 'Description of the Ord Hill of Kessock'. Archaeologia Scotica 4 (1857), 191-4

Feachem, R (1963) A guide to prehistoric Scotland. Batsford: London

Headland Archaeology (2011) Knock Farril, Fodderty and Ord Hill, Knockbain: topographic survey for the Forestry Commission. Headland Archaeology (UK) Ltd

Mackenzie, G (1857) 'Notice of the Ord Hill of Kessock. 22d December 1824'. Archaeologia Scotica 4 (1857), 194-5

Wallace, T (1918) 'Notes on the parish of Petty'. Trans Inverness Sci Soc Fld Club 8 (1912-18), 87-136

Woodham, A A (1955) 'A survey of prehistoric monuments in the Black Isle'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 88 (1953-55), 65-93

Terms of Use

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.

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