Torr a'Chaisteal Fort
Torr a'Chaisteal is a circular Iron Age fort on a ridge near the south western tip of Arran. The Dun is constructed with a double-skin wall up to 12 feet wide, enclosing an area 45 feet across. The walls are made with two sets of large blocks of sandstone in-filled with rubble.
Little remains save the foundations of the wall. The entrance on the northeast of the site is protected by a curving earth bank, 20 feet on the exterior slope and 5 feet high inside the fort.
The fort may have been used as an animal enclosure, or perhaps for farming in a protected environment, with access to the nearby coast. The most likely date of construction is sometime around 200 AD.
Excavations in the 19th century found human bones within the fort, in addition to a quern stone for grinding grain. The Historic Scotland information board suggests that there may have been a timber house within the fort, its roof resting on the stone walls of the dun, though no evidence of such a dwelling can be seen now. Today Torr a'Chaisteal seems a lonely place, with little to show how its residents lived so many years ago.
The fort may have been used as an animal enclosure, or perhaps for farming in a protected environment, with access to the nearby coast. The most likely date of construction is sometime around 200 AD.
Excavations in the 19th century found human bones within the fort, in addition to a quern stone for grinding grain. The Historic Scotland information board suggests that there may have been a timber house within the fort, its roof resting on the stone walls of the dun, though no evidence of such a dwelling can be seen now. Today Torr a'Chaisteal seems a lonely place, with little to show how its residents lived so many years ago.
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