MHG6994 - Castle Findlay
Summary
No summary available.
Type and Period (2)
- FORT (Early Iron Age to Pictish - 550 BC? to 900 AD?)
- VITRIFIED STONE (Early Iron Age to Pictish - 550 BC? to 900 AD?)
Protected Status
Full Description
NH85SE 7 8880 5140.
Castle Findlay (NAT) Vitrified Fort (NR) OS 6" map, (1959)
Castle Finlay (NR) OS 6" map, Nairnshire, 2nd ed., (1906)
"Castle Finlay" (spelling confirmed) a partly vitrified fort with outworks on knoll in fork of 2 streams. It is oval plan measuring c33m N-S by c16m transversely within a turf-covered wall of rubble stones spread to c6m in which occasional burnt stones and a few small pieces of vitrified stone can be seen. The entrance is not evident.
The fort is surrounded at a lower level by a ditch, average width c3m and depth c1m, scarped into slope with upcast forming an outer rampart c3.5m wide and c1m high. This defence is broken at two places, in E where there is a declevity leading down slope from fort to a water-hole or cistern, and in N where defence is offset. Outside latter is a hornwork probably protecting entrance which was almost certainly in this quarter.
A modern footpath is constructed through the defence in the SW.
Surveyed at 1/2500 (Visited by OS {R D} 26 November 1965).
R W Feachem 1963; Visited by OS (R L) 14 January 1971.
Castle Findlay [NAT] Fort [NR] OS 1:10,000 map, 1980.
Information from ARCH Community Timeline Project: Auldearn:
Also sometimes spelled Castle Finlay.
Add to bibliography:
Anderson, George 1857. 'On certain Vitrified [and Unvitrified] Forts in the neighbourhood of Loch Ness and the Moray Firth,' Archaeologica Scotica v. 4, pp. 196-7. <1>
This site was included in the Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland online database. See link below for site entry. <2>
Nairn Museum files record two lumps of slag from Castle Findlay, Geddes, Narinshire. They are assumed to be from this site, and ther is no further information. It in unknown whether the objects are within the Museum's collection. <3>
Sources/Archives (7)
- --- SHG2187 Text/Publication/Volume: Feachem, R W. 1963. A Guide to Prehistoric Scotland. 1st. 140.
- --- SHG2425 Text/Publication/Volume: Love J, McMullen E (ed). 1994. A Salmon for the Schoolhouse, A Nairnshire Parish in the C19.
- --- SHG2672 Text/Report: RCAHMS. 1978. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. The archaeological sites and monuments of Nairn District, Highland Region. . 10, No. 43.
- --- SHG43 Text/Publication/Article: Nisbet, H C. 1975. 'A geological approach to vitrified forts, part II: bedrock and building stone', Science and Archaeology, Vol 15, pp 3-16. p 13, No. 52.
- <1> SHG25449 Collection/Project Archive: Archaeology for Communities in the Highlands (ARCH). 08/2011. Digital site gazetteer and archive for ARCH Community Timeline Project: Auldearn. Yes. Site 13.
- <2> SHG27950 Interactive Resource/Online Database: Lock, G. & Ralston, I.. 2017. Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland. SC2910.
- <3> SHG28503 Text/Record Form/Project Recording Form: Archaeology for Communities in the Highlands (ARCH). 2019. Finds Collection at Nairn Museum.
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred NH 8880 5140 (154m by 188m) (2 map features) |
|---|---|
| Map sheet | NH85SE |
| Civil Parish | NAIRN |
| Geographical Area | NAIRN |
Finds (1)
- SLAG (Undated)
Related Monuments/Buildings (0)
Related Investigations/Events (0)
External Links (3)
- http://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk/records/SC2910.html (Link to online Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland site entry)
- http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/SM3087 (Online designation description (Historic Environment Scotland))
- https://canmore.org.uk/site/15203 (View RCAHMS Canmore entry for this site)
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