LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
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HER: Highland HER MHG8498 (None)
NMR: NH 98 NW 5 (15627)
SM: 4806
NGR: NH 9296 8729
X: 292960 Y: 887290 (OSGB36)
The remains of this fortification are situated on a rocky promontory on the N coast of the Tarbat peninsular. In general the surface of the promontory planes down towards the sea on the N, but the sides are steep and in places develop into low cliffs, particularly along its W margin. The defences comprise two elements: a pair of outer ramparts with external ditches across the neck of the promontory barring access from the S; and an inner enclosure around a substantial structure embedded in a large mound of rubble. Roughly D-shaped on plan, with a few outer facing-stones visible on the S and NE, and possible inner facing-stones on the N, the structure in this mound probably measures about 16m from N to S by at least 7m transversely within a wall in the order of 2m in thickness. This appears to have stood within the S end of a larger enclosure measuring about 56m from N to S by 12m transversely (0.05ha) within a wall reduced to little more than a band of rubble, which swings concentrically across the neck on the S to follow the E margin of the promontory down to the edge of the sea on the N and return along the W until it disappears in the rubble of the mound. The inner rampart of the outer defences drawn across the neck of the promontory on the S has been heavily robbed but was evidently of some size, fronted by a ditch that measures 7.5m in breadth by up to 1.5m in depth where it is not filled with field-cleared stones. The outer rampart and ditch have been equally heavily reduced, but appear to follow a slightly eccentric line diverging towards the W. The relationships between these various defences are unknown, but a trackway that can be seen cutting across the outer lines on the E is more likely to relate to robbing and stone quarrying in the interior than access to the inner enclosure. The only other feature visible within the interior is an oval hut overlying the wall of the inner enclosure on the E.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -423652 Y: 7938450 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -3.8057282743661345 Latitude: 57.86231821293531 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Highland
Historic County: Ross-shire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Tarbat
None
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
None
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✓ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✓ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| 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: None
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✓ |
Altitude: 7.0m
N/A
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 | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50 | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400 | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800 | ✗ |
| Post AD800 | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✓ |
| Pre Hillfort: | None |
| Post Hillfort: | The inner enclosure and structure have probably been inserted into an earlier promontory fort. The defences are also overlain by a later track, an oval hut, and dumped clearance |
None
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1793): | Noted (Stat Acct 6, 1793, 426-7n) |
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1872): | Named in Gothic type and annotated Ditches on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Ross-shire 1880, sheet 30.6; Name Book, Ross-shire, no. 30, p 5) |
| Other (1972): | Surveyed at 1:2500 by the OS |
| Other (1977): | Visited by the OS |
| Other (1977): | Description by RCAHMS |
| Other (1990): | Scheduled |
| Earthwork Survey (2014): | Plan and description by RCAHMS (RCAHMS GV005438 & SC1461440; DC57631 & SC1403636) |
Occupied by a large D-shaped mound
None
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Mound
| No Known Features | ✗ |
| Round Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Rectangular Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Curvilinear Platforms | ✗ |
| Other Roundhouse Evidence | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✓ |
None
| No Known Excavation | ✓ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
| Nothing Found | ✗ |
None
| No Known Geophysics | ✓ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
| Nothing Found | ✗ |
None
| 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
| 1: | Overlying track |
| 2: | Not known |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
At least two ramparts and ditches cutting off a promontory, but with an inner enclosure around a substantial structure within the interior
| Area 1: | 0.05ha. |
| Total: | 0.05ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 0.14ha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | The inner enclosure and structure are excluded from this analysis |
| NE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SE Quadrant: | 2 |
| SW Quadrant: | 0 |
| NW Quadrant: | 0 |
| Total: | 2 |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✓ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
None
| None | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank | ✓ |
| Stone Wall | ✗ |
| Rubble | ✓ |
| Wall-walk | ✗ |
| Evidence of Timber | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✗ |
| Berm | ✗ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| None | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank | ✗ |
| Stone Wall | ✗ |
| Murus Duplex | ✗ |
| Timber-framed | ✗ |
| Timber-laced | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✗ |
| Berm | ✗ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| No Known Excavation | ✓ |
| Other | ✗ |
| ✗ | None |
| ✓ | None |
Number of Ditches: 2
| ✗ | None |
Name Book, Ordnance Survey Object Name Books (6 inch and 1/2500 scale); available https://www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/
Stat Acct (date) Statistical Account of Scotland: Drawn up from the Communications of the Ministers of the Different Parishes (Sinclair, J ed), 1791-99
Atlas of Hillforts:
Wikidata:
This work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
and should be cited as:
Lock, Gary and Ralston, Ian. 2024. Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland. Available at: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk
Document Version 1.1