Caisteal Rollach

Nearest town:
Inverness (5km WNW)
OS reference:
NH69324076
OS sheet:
26
Latitude:
57° 26' 18.52 N
Longitude:
4° 10' 38.22 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Caisteal Rollach (Hillfort) by drewbhoy

Looking down on top the what’s left of the western defences. Behind is Inverness and the Black Isle.

Image credit: drew/ALC/B
drewbhoy
drewbhoy Oct 19, 2016
Image of Caisteal Rollach (Hillfort) by drewbhoy

The east side of the inside, further into the fort is impossible due to the dense jabby stuff.

Image credit: drew/ALC/B
drewbhoy
drewbhoy Oct 19, 2016
Image of Caisteal Rollach (Hillfort) by drewbhoy

From high up a tree looking east into the fort. The fort ends at the tall trees in the east.

Image credit: drew/ALC/B
drewbhoy
drewbhoy Oct 19, 2016
Image of Caisteal Rollach (Hillfort) by drewbhoy

Part of the large ditch at the west end of the fort.

Image credit: drew/ALC/B
drewbhoy
drewbhoy Oct 18, 2016

Articles

Caisteal Rollach

drewbhoy
drewbhoy Oct 24, 2016

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.

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