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: ✗
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.
| Citizen Science: | ✗ |
| Reliability of Data: | Confirmed |
| Reliability of Interpretation: | Confirmed |
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
| Extant: | ✓ |
| Cropmark: | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed: | ✗ |
Planted
| 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: 190.0m
| 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: | ✗ |
| Post Hillfort Activity: | ✗ |
| None: | No details. |
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 |
Featureless apart from a marker cairn
| 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: | ✗ |
Obscured by trees
| APs Not Checked: | ✗ |
| None: | ✓ |
| Roundhouses: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures: | ✗ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Postholes: | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
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 |
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 |
| Partial Univallate: | ✓ |
| Univallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate: | ✓ |
| Bivallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate: | ✗ |
| Multivallate: | ✗ |
| Unknown: | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate: | ✗ |
| Univallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate: | ✗ |
| Bivallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate: | ✗ |
| Multivallate: | ✗ |
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: | ✗ |
| 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: | ✗ |
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
Atlas of Hillforts: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk/?query=Atlas_of_Hillforts_4166_0%2CMain_Atlas_Number%2C2895
Wikidata: http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q31102105
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.