The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

Caisteal Rollach

Hillfort

Fieldnotes

From the Drummossie Muir kerb cairn we headed back northwards to the supposed track. Once on the track we headed north east but it soon became one massive loch. We climbed onto the top of dry stane dyke to north and proceeded for a while in the same direction until we came across problems. ALC fell into a hole waist high (the dog had a good laugh) and vegetation blocked the way forwards so we jumped into the ditch on the other side of the wall. Fortunately it was dry. The idea of taking this route was to avoid going over the hill and thru the forest to the fort. Hindsight is a great thing. Still we plodded on until a deer fence which we followed in a north westerly direction passing a badly ruined building. Climb the nearby gate and go straight west following another deer fence, keep going until another deer fence and the fort will be front.

On the forts eastern flank there is a bog which becomes a small stream, handy extra defences as the fort is built on a small rising. Most of the defences have been robbed. Turf covered ditches/ramparts at the western end do survive and curve round, at least 2 meters tall, until they taper out, probably robbed of their content. Luckily a ladder propped against a tree, leading to a shooters chair, provided the opportunity to take photos of the fort spreading out to the east. A good thing as furze, whins, gorse etc. made walking to the internal fort impossible. From the top of ladder we could see that we had almost walked to the outskirts of Inverness.

To get to Daviot we went back to the ruined buildings. Instead of following the deer fence we headed north east to the far corner of the field were luckily we ended up back on Wades Road. From there the tracks and paths greatly improved and we made it safely back to the car. The expected 3 or 4 mile walk had ended up in a walk of over 10 miles.

Visited 17/10/2016.
drewbhoy Posted by drewbhoy
24th October 2016ce

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