thesweetcheat

The remains of a very substantial cairn with several smaller ones, at the bottom of the eastern slopes of Dod Hill, which is an obvious focal point.

Pastscape description:

Although severely robbed, the surviving rim of this round cairn shows it was originally about 23.0m overall diameter.

An arc of earthfast kerbstones is visible around the S side, but the entire NE quadrant has been destroyed by robbing. Standing to a maximum height of 1.3m on the W side, the original height of the cairn was probably at least double this, judging by the large rubble heaps and sheepfolds nearby.

Six metres S. of the cairn, is a compact sub-circular earth and rubble mound about 5.0m in overall diameter and about 1.0m high. It appears undisturbed and cannot be regarded as spoil from the larger mound. Possibly a small satellite cairn, but one cannot be certain on ground evidence.

Remains of a further 4 round cairns, between 3.5 metres and 5 metres in diameter and up to 0.5 metres high, can be seen to the south and east.

A mile to the southeast was a massive cairn, which yielded finds but is now gone. From pastscape:

(centred NU 039470) A tumulus of water-worn stones, about 26 feet high and 50 feet diameter, stood about 250 yards from High Water Mark, on the very extreme limit of the cultivated land, on the left of the road from Cheswick to the beach. When opened in 1826, it was found to contain several secondary inhumations, and, at its centre, a primary burial in a cist, 5 feet x 2 feet 6 inches, together with a bronze knife-dagger, now in the B.M.

No trace of a cairn in the area.

Canmore description of the fort/settlement site:

This fort is situated at an elevation of some 250ft OD, and occupies the NW end of a rocky knoll which rises some 40ft above a cultivated field.

It is enclosed by a single earth-and-stone rampart which follows the contour on three sides and crosses the summit on the fourth. In the interior are several rather indefinite foundations, and apparently a circular one on the right of the entrance and another nearer the centre. There are also a number of mounds and hollows of indeterminate character outside on the slope from the SE, probably due to quarrying.

The remains at this site are those of a probable two-phase settlement overlain by a farmstead. In the first phase the settlement measured 40m by 24.5m internally; subsequently it was extended on the NW by 13m. The enclosing bank is spread to a width of about 3.3m, except on the SE, where it is considerably thicker, with traces of an external ditch. The gap on the SE is probably associated with the farmstead, and the original entrance may have been on the N. The remains of the later farmstead are situated within the wall of the settlement. The buildings appear to have been ranged around a yard which was open on the SE. The most prominent feature is a building platform measuring 13m from NW to SE by 4.2m transversely set against the SW wall of the earlier settlement.

As well as the fort there is an intervisible prehistoric settlement site to the NW at NT 9083 6863. Canmore description:

This roughly rectangular settlement, measuring about 44m by 28.5m within a wall (0.6m high and spread to a thickness of 3.7m) occupies the rounded summit of a hill due S of Pettico Wick Harbour, (at an elevation of 105m OD). The S corner of the interior has been incorporated into what is probably a secondary enclosure containing the turf-covered footings of two circular houses. Within the settlement there are footings of two houses with internal diameters of 6.2m and 7m respectively.