Easter Rarichie

NH87SW 6 8434 7360.

(NH 8434 7360) Danish Fort (NR)
OS 6" map, Ross-shire, 2nd ed., (1907)

Fort, Easter Rarichie: This fort is situated on a knoll which rises from the lower part of the NE slope of the Hill of Nigg, 650 yards S of Easter Rarichie farmhouse. The remains are ruinous, having suffered from stone-robbing and the encroachment of the plough as well as from natural decay. They consist of several separate features, the innermost of which is a small stone-walled structure which crowns the knoll. This is represented by a stony mound about 12' in thickness surrounding an area about 35' in diameter. On the N arc several continuous outer facing stones still remain in situ and there is a gap in the SE arc that represents an entrance. The thickness of the wall suggests that the structure may have been a dun. (A more ruinous example of a similar structure, with an internal diameter of about 30' is situated on a small knoll 200 yds to the W.) The dun stands within the slight remains of a stone wall (I) which enclose an area 170' E-W by 80'. For the most part this feature now appears only as a slight scarp from which a few boulders protrude. The entrance is in the SE. A second wall (II) lies below this to enclose an area measuring 210' E-W by 160'. Although it is as ruinous as wall I, more loose boulders and stones occur along its course. The entrance is in the E.
The ruin of wall II overlies the N, S, and W arcs of rampart III, the E part of which runs off beyond the points where the E arc of wall II turns. This rampart, now a mere crest-line above the scarped flanks of the knoll, encloses and area 300' E-W by 160'. The entrance is in the E. The next line of defence is a rampart (IV) partly formed by adapting the lowest part of the knoll and partly by a rubble mound. The whole of the S sector of this rampart lay on level ground below the knoll, and was entirely removed when the land on which it was built was ploughed. The slight remains of a similar rampart (V) lie outside the SE arc of IV, and appear to have been truncated in the same way.
It is possible to suggest that at least two main structural phases can be distinguished among the six defensive features that are crowded on to the knoll, despite their ruinous condition. The original work may have consisted of rampart III as the innermost line, and IV and V as its outer defences. The second phase may be represented at least by walls I and II, and possibly by the dun as well. The dun, however, may represent a third, separate, phase of occupation.
New Statistical Account (NSA) 1845; Name Book 1872; Information from RCAHMS TS, 15 May 1957.

A fort consisting of three ruinous walls and two outer ramparts, with a later circular structure crowning the top of the summit.
The latter consists of a circular turf-covered wall about 3.5m thick, and 17.5m in diameter with an entrance in the SE. Undoubtedly a dwelling, this is more likely to be a strong hut circle, rather than a robbed dun; it overlies the W arc of the fort wall. This wall, representing the innermost of the fort defences, is reduced to a stony scarp, completely destroyed in the N, and has enclosed an oval area measuring about 30.0m E-W by 10.0m. Outside, is another wall (RCAHMS's wall I) which has enclosed an oval area about 43.0m E-W by 26.0m whilst the third wall (RCAHMS's wall II) has occupied the N, W and S rims of a steep slope above the inner rampart, and is in a similar state of preservation to the other two. There is no trace of the rampart which it is alleged to overlie. It appears to have enclosed an area of c. 67.0m by 50.0m, but has now been reduced to a slight scarp. The inner rampart, is as described by the RCAHMS. The entrance, in the E, is offset. As well as the short section of outer rampart surviving in the SE, a smaller section is evident in the W. Undoubtedly this rampart, like the inner one, once encircled the S arc of the knoll, but it has never completed the circuit in the N.
The defences are partly obscured by whins and bracken; the sequence of fortification and the number of periods represented is uncertain, but there is little doubt that the circular structure, perhaps best classified as a homestead, was constructed after the fort had fallen into disuse.
Resurveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (A A) 18 September 1972.

A multivallate fort occupying a knoll which provides an excellent defensive location. The circular stone-walled structure on the summit overlying the innermost rampart of the fort as described by the previous OS field investigator, appears on balance to be a dun rather than a hut circle, a hypothesis based on its defensive position, its overall size and relatively thick wall, although it is severely reduced and no evidence of its construction is exposed. (See also NH87SW 8).
Visited by OS (N K B) 10 March 1981.