Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

NI1495 Carravindoon (Rathlin Island), Antrim (Doon Point)

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

HER:  Northern Ireland Sites and Monuments Record ANT001:058 (None)

NMR:  ANT 001 (None)

SM:  None

NGR:  None

X:  715704  Y:  948710  (IRENET95)

Summary

This coastal promontory, depicted as 'Doon Point' on the first edition (1839) OS six-inch map, is situated on the SE side of Rathlin Island. A rocky low-lying headland connected by a narrow neck to the mainland on the W, it projects E from the Island between Doon Bay and Illancarragh Bay. O' Laverty (1887) observed that 'Doon Point....seems to have been fortified by cutting across the narrow neck which connected the headland'. Access to the promontory is gained via a wide area of rock traversed by a modern wall. Overlooking the neck, the lip of the top of the headland is marked by the remains of a wall c. 1.0m wide and 0.2-0.4m high. A well defined entrance 3.0m wide is recorded in this wall which faces W and provides access from the neck. Of the interior, 0.12ha is grass-grown, but the rest is bare outcrop descending to the sea; there are no recorded internal features

Status

Citizen Science:  ✗

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Unconfirmed

Location

X:  -687865  Y:  7414817  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -6.179193238292856  Latitude:  55.27190275588026  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Northern Ireland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Antrim (Rathlin Island)

Historic County:  Antrim

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Carravindoon

Monument Condition

None

Condition:
Extant   ✓
Cropmark   ✗
Likely Destroyed   ✗

Land Use

None

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

Landscape

Hillfort Type

The site is an irregular low-lying headland with a narrow neck that projects E from the Island between Doon Bay and Illancarragh Bay at an altitude of 1m OD.

Type:
Contour Fort   ✗
Partial Contour Fort   ✗
Promontory Fort   ✓
Hillslope Fort   ✗
Level Terrain Fort   ✗
Marsh Fort   ✗
Multiple Enclosure Fort   ✗

Topographic Position

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

Dominant Topographic Feature:  E-facing promontory

Aspect:
North   ✗
Northeast   ✗
East   ✓
Southeast   ✗
South   ✗
Southwest   ✗
West   ✗
Northwest   ✗
Level   ✗

Altitude:  1.0m

Boundary

N/A


Dating Evidence

There is no dating available for the site

Reliability:  D - None

Principal Activity:
Pre 1200BC   ✗
1200BC - 800BC   ✗
800BC - 400BC   ✗
400BC - AD50   ✗
AD50 - AD400   ✗
AD400 - AD 800   ✗
Post AD800   ✗
Unknown   ✓

Other Activity:
Pre Hillfort:   None
Post Hillfort:   None

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

The headland is depicted as 'Doon Point' on the first edition (1839) OS six-inch map. O' Laverty (1887) observed that 'Doon Point....seems to have been fortified by cutting across the narrow neck which connected the headland'. Surveyed by the Archaeological Survey of Northern Ireland in 1989.

Investigations:
1st Identified Map Depiction (1839):   OS six-inch mapping
1st Identified Written Reference (1887):   O'Laverty
Earthwork Survey (1989):   Archaeological Survey of Northern Ireland

Interior Features

There are no recorded internal features

Water Source

None

Source:
None   ✓
Spring   ✗
Stream   ✗
Pool   ✗
Flush   ✗
Well   ✗
Other   ✗

Surface

None

Interior Features (Surface):
No Known Features   ✓
Round Stone Structures   ✗
Rectangular Stone Structures   ✗
Curvilinear Platforms   ✗
Other Roundhouse Evidence   ✗
Pits   ✗
Quarry Hollows   ✗
Other   ✗

Excavation

None

Interior Features (Excavation):
No Known Excavation   ✓
Pits   ✗
Postholes   ✗
Roundhouses   ✗
Rectangular Structures   ✗
Roads/Tracks   ✗
Quarry Hollows   ✗
Other   ✗
Nothing Found   ✗

Geophysics

None

Interior Features (Geophysics):
No Known Geophysics   ✓
Pits   ✗
Roundhouses   ✗
Rectangular Structures   ✗
Roads/Tracks   ✗
Quarry Hollows   ✗
Other   ✗
Nothing Found   ✗

Finds

None

Interior (Finds):
No Known Finds   ✓
Pottery   ✗
Metal   ✗
Metalworking   ✗
Human Bones   ✗
Animal Bones   ✗
Lithics   ✗
Environmental   ✗
Other   ✗

Aerial

NO APPARENT FEATURES

Interior Features (Aerial):
APs Not Checked   ✓
None   ✗
Roundhouses   ✗
Rectangular Structures   ✗
Pits   ✗
Postholes   ✗
Roads/Tracks   ✗
Other   ✗

Entrances

A well defined entrance 3.0m wide is recorded in the enclosing wall which faces the W access route to the site.

Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts:  
1:   None

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   None

Guard Chambers:  ✗

Chevaux de Frise:  ✗

Entrances:
1. Simple Gap (West):   None

Enclosing Works

The leading edge of the top of the headland facing onto the neck on the W is marked by the remains of a perimeter wall, c. 1.0m wide and 0.2-0.4m high. No other information is available for this feature. About

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.3ha.
Total:   0.3ha.

Total Footprint Area:  0.4ha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   None

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✗   None

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   0
SE Quadrant:   0
SW Quadrant:   0
NW Quadrant:   1
Total:   1

Morphology

Current Morphology:
Partial Univallate   ✓
Univallate   ✗
Partial Bivallate   ✗
Bivallate   ✗
Partial Multivallate   ✗
Multivallate   ✗
Unknown   ✗

Detailed Morphology:
Partial Univallate   ✗
Univallate   ✗
Partial Bivallate   ✗
Bivallate   ✗
Partial Multivallate   ✗
Multivallate   ✗

Surface Evidence

None

Enclosing Works (Surface):
None   ✗
Earthen Bank   ✗
Stone Wall   ✓
Rubble   ✗
Wall-walk   ✗
Evidence of Timber   ✗
Vitrification   ✗
Other Burning   ✗
Palisade   ✗
Counter Scarp Bank   ✗
Berm   ✗
Unfinished   ✗
Other   ✗

Excavated Evidence

None

Enclosing Works (Excavation):
None   ✗
Earthen Bank   ✗
Stone Wall   ✗
Murus Duplex   ✗
Timber-framed   ✗
Timber-laced   ✗
Vitrification   ✗
Other Burning   ✗
Palisade   ✗
Counter Scarp Bank   ✗
Berm   ✗
Unfinished   ✗
No Known Excavation   ✓
Other   ✗

Other

Gang Working:
✗   None

Ditches:
✗   None

Number of Ditches:  0

Annex:
✗   None

References

www.ni-environment.co.uk- Archaeological Survey of Northern Ireland field report.

O'Laverty,J. 1887 Vol.IV 376



Terms of Use

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


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