LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
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HER: Comhairle nan Eilean Siar - Western Isles Sites and Monuments Record MWE144519 (None)
NMR: NB 56 SE 3 (270558)
SM: None
NGR: NB 5569 6145
X: 155690 Y: 961450 (OSGB36)
The remains of this fort are situated E of Skigersta on a promontory that falls away into the sea in a spectacular sheer cliff along its NW margin. Elsewhere at the seaward end and along the SE flank the ground descends in a ragged slope, roughly following the steep dip of the underlying strata, and is by no means an impassable barrier. Nevertheless, at the neck, which is its narrowest point, the spine of the promontory is traversed by the remains of a wall with two possible external ditches. The thickness of the wall is hard to determine, mainly comprising a line of five large outer facing-stones strung over a distance of 6m, and most of the wall core has been removed; some 3m to the rear of the N end of this face there are two displaced blocks and a mound of rubble about 3m broad and 0.5m high, which can also be traced back along the edge of the cliff over a distance of 5m towards the E. The ditches are shallow and unimpressive, the inner no more than 2m broad, and the outer 4m broad and up to 0.6m in depth along its counterscarp; there is little evidence of upcast ramparts, though the area between the ditches is heavily eroded. An undug causeway between the terminals of ditches and the cliff-edge on the NW presumably marks the position of the entrance. The interior extends to a maximum of 0.1ha, but the seaward end of the promontory tails off into a large area of bare, eroded outcrops, as does the slope dipping down from the crest along the SE margin, A rather smaller area measuring about 50m from NE to SW by 20m transversely (0.06ha) is still grass-grown, within which there are traces of three shallow hollows up to 0.3m in depth that appear to be the remains of structures. One lies immediately to the rear of the wall and the other two are set side by side a little further E; the better defined of these two is oval, measuring 6m in length by 3.5m in breadth within a stony rim which is broken by an entrance in the SSE end.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -689277 Y: 8067290 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -6.191878363691272 Latitude: 58.472748594154126 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Western Isles
Historic County: Ross-shire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Barvas
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: 20.0m
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: | Heavy robbing |
None
| 1st Identified Written Reference (2005): | Noted from RCAHMS aerial photographs |
| Other (2014): | Visited and description by S Halliday |
Three structures, the best formed being oval with an entrance in one end
None
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| 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: | None |
| 2: | No gap visible in inner wall |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (South west): | Through outer defences |
Single wall and two ditches cutting off a promontory
| Area 1: | 0.01ha. |
| Total: | 0.01ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SW Quadrant: | 2 |
| 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 |
No related records
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