stirling-1963-vol-1/05_108

Transcription

No. 73 -- FORTS -- No. 73
The structure has suffered considerably from quarry-
ing, and stones have been removed from it to build walls
and houses near by. The central feature of the surviving
remains surrounds the highest point of the knoll and
consists of a dilapidated stony bank (A on the plan),
covered with heather, which probably represents a
ruined wall. It measures about 12 ft. in width, and
encloses a roughly circular area measuring about 75 ft.
in diameter internally. Externally, the surface of the
bank slopes gently down from a ragged crest which
stands to a maximum height of 4 ft. 6 in. above the
ground outside, but internally the entire circumference
is cut and pitted in the same manner as is the whole of
the area that it encloses. This promiscuous damage is
probably in part the result of excavation, which is dis-
cussed below. The bank appears to be continuous except
for a gap about 10 ft. in width in the S. arc which prob-
ably represents the original entrance.

[Plan Inserted]
Fig. 12. Fort, Langlands (No. 73)

This central feature is surrounded, at a distance which
varies from 15 ft. to 35 ft., by the remains of a rampart
(B), oval on plan and measuring internally 145 ft. in
length from NW. to SE. by 120 ft. transversely. Where
the SE. arc of this rampart crosses the junction of the
knoll and the ridge it is accompanied by an external
ditch. The rampart is spread to a thickness of 20 ft. and
stands to a height of 6 ft. above the level of the bottom
of the ditch but only to a few inches above the interior,
The ditch measures 18 ft. in width and the outer lip
rises to a height of 2 ft. 6 in. above the bottom. On the
NE., the rampart runs along the crest of the steep flank
of the knoll and merges with the natural slope below,
but as it continues NW. it turns away from the flank to run
across the surface of the knoll, which here extends NW.
for a further 80 ft. before dropping to the burn. This arc
is again accompanied by a shallow external ditch 18 ft.
in width. Here the crest of the rampart stands to a
height of 10 ft. above the ditch and to 2ft. 6 in. above
the level of the interior. A length of about 30 ft. of the E.
extremity of the ditch has been obliterated, probably by
excavation, and the disturbance has run in to breach the
N. arc of the wall. The W. arc of the rampart originally
lay on the crest of the very steep W. flank of the knoll,
but a stretch measuring nearly 100 ft. in length has been
undermined and destroyed by a quarry. The S. arc
includes a gap about 25 ft. in width which probably
marks the position of the original entrance.
The outer lip of the SE. arc of the external ditch rests
on a rocky spine which here runs athwart the ridge from
NE. to SW. At a distance of 20 ft. SE. of and parallel
to the lip of the ditch the spine is bordered by a scarp
which stands to a height of some 2 ft. 6 in. above the
level of the ground outside. This might be the vestige
of some now unrecognisable continuation of the system
of defence, but is more probably merely the result of
ploughing the land immediately SW. of the spine. The
W. ends of both the ditch and the spine have been
mutilated by quarrying, and also by what may be the
foundations of buildings, while a now disused field-
boundary crosses them from NE. to SW. as shown on
the plan. What appear to be the ruined foundations of
small buildings lie among the quarry-pits and field
banks on the SW. slope of the knoll, while the ruin of a
rectangular building and the grounders of a stone dyke
can be seen on the level ground NW. and W. of the base
of the knoll.

CORN-DRYING KILN. The excavations referred to
above form the subject of a note which is attached
to the report of the excavation of the broch in Tor Wood
(No. 100). ¹ This consists of a brief account of work done
at Langlands and an announcement of the intention to
carry out more work and then to report fully on the
whole. Although the disturbed state of the ground inside
the fort suggests that the excavations may have been
continued, no further report on the work is known. Three
drawings, however, were published ² which throw con-
siderable light on the results of the initial excavation.
Of these, Fig. 8 shows a stone-lined pit which measures
6 ft. in diameter at the bottom and 8 ft. at the open top,
and is 7 ft. 6 in. deep. The pit is joined at base-level by a
stone-lined passage, a length of 9 ft. of which still bore
large lintel-stones when unearthed. As illustrated, the
passage measures 13 ft. in length, and reaches a height
of 2 ft. 6 in. where it joins the pit and 3 ft. 6 in. at the
other end. Fig. 7 shows that it measured 3 ft. in width.
These dimensions coincide reasonably well with those
given in a brief note on the structure which was published
16 years after the excavation. ³ This states that "on the
N. side of the knoll" there was a drystone structure
which measured 12 ft. in depth, 10 ft. in diameter at the
top and 6 ft. at the bottom, to which was connected a

1 P.S.A.S., vi (1864-6), 265.
2 Ibid., pl. xv. figs. 6, 7, 8.
3 History (1880 ed). i. 54.

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