Knockfarrel Pictish Hill Fort
http://www.scottishweb.net/articles/68/1/Knockfarrel-Pictish-Hill-Fort/Page1.html
Published on 12 March 2008
This week I decided to take a walk up a hill local to where I live, Knockfarrel in Ross-Shire. My goal was to reach the remains of a Pictish hill-fort at the summit, with quite a few folks telling me of the superb view from the top. It was a beautiful day and along with my camera I set off in the hope of finding somthing to film once I reached the top.
The hill itself is long and thin on top with very steep sides all around. Its easy to see why the Picts chose this spot to built a substantial hill fort and defensive complex. On reaching the top, I could see that the fort itself had been of an elongated oval shape, following the contour of the flat top on the hill. It seemed that quite a large area was enclosed within the outer walls, and had you been approaching from any angle below the fort, you would have met with the defensive walls after your very steep climb. It was easy to understand how such a place could be so difficult to attack. Of course, there is not too much left of the hill-fort today. You can see the outline of where the outer walls were, and three trenches crossing the site at different points.These were dug in the early part of the 20th Century, and were part of the first archaeological excavation of the site.
One of the great things about the hill-forts of Easter Ross is the fact that from any given one, you can see another, or maybe two. This is no coincidence, or not simply due to the fact that all the forts are on top of hills. The Picts were advanced when it came to warfare and defence. They developed an early warning system of fire beacons. When an attack was imminent, it is thought they would set fire to a prepared beacon of wood and bushes, and in turn, the other hill forts would see this and set fire to their beacons. This would result in the whole area being warned of an oncoming attack, and the direction of the attack could be easily determined.
King Brude, a Pictish king, was known to live around the Inverness / Loch Ness area. This would have meant that this very area was the heart of the Pictish kingdom. Nobody knows for sure where King Brude actually lived, but we can make an educated guess. There are two possible sites where he could have been. One is Craig Phadrig above Inverness, a pictish hill fort with a dominating position at the mouth of the Great Glen. The other is the site on which Urquhart Castle now stands on the shore of Loch Ness. It is known that a Pictish stronghold was there long before the castle was built, and the site itself is a natural fist of rock with a flat top, making it ideal for such a structure.
However, I believe that the site of the Pictish King's abode was indeed Craig Phadrig. The reasons I believe this are as follows:
The site at Urquhart Castle is indeed a defensive one, and you only have to look at the way in which the castle's builders have utilised this to understand why such a place was used. As the whole site has its back to Loch Ness, any attack would have to come from the front. In doing so, the attacker would have to run down a hill and along a vulnerable flat area over which the fort has a dominant position. Difficult, but not difficult enough. If you were to walk up the nearest hill to the fort, you would be able to see right into it, and all its goings-on. This does not sound like the place for a king to live. As well as this, there are no other hill forts visible from the Urquhart Castle site. This also sounds strange, as the early warning system of beacons from the other hill forts could not be used. This, in my opinion, puts the Urquhart Castle site in too much danger, and too vulnerable for King Brude. There was definitely a Pictish fort there, and was almost certainly visited on a regular basis by King Brude, but I do not believe that is where he based himself.
Craig Phadrig, on the other hand, is an ideal situation. It is on the summit of a very steep hill, with good clear views all around. The earthwork and remains of the fort is one of the largest examples I have ever seen, and must have been quite a spectacular site at one stage. Below the fort stands Inverness, which would have been a boggy floodplain in the days of the picts, perhaps farmed during peaceful times. More importantly, from the Craig Phadrig site, five other fort sites can be seen, with Craig Phadrig itself in the center. This sounds ideal as the seat of the king, with an attack warning available from any direction. If the Knockfarrel fort, where we started our journey, were to light a beacon, it would be seen easily by Craig Phadrig, some 20 miles away. A warning of an attack from a distance of 20 miles leaves good time in which to prepare defences and take any necessary measures. It is for this reason I like to believe that King Brude did indeed live at Craig Phadrig.
After taking a few snaps of the area, my wind-blasted ears were telling me that it was time to head back down. Before I left, I had one last look at what must have been a very busy place in it's day, and the thought of the work needed to construct such huge hill forts boggles the mind.
Life in the Scottish Highlands must have been one long struggle for survival in Pictish times, and in constant danger of attack, these must have been a hardy and powerful people in their own right.
One of the great things about the hill-forts of Easter Ross is the fact that from any given one, you can see another, or maybe two. This is no coincidence, or not simply due to the fact that all the forts are on top of hills.
Written for Scottishweb by Angus Macdonald
This week I decided to take a walk up a hill local to where I live, Knockfarrel in Ross-Shire. My goal was to reach the remains of a Pictish hill-fort at the summit, with quite a few folks telling me of the superb view from the top. It was a beautiful day and along with my camera I set off in the hope of finding somthing to film once I reached the top.The hill itself is long and thin on top with very steep sides all around. Its easy to see why the Picts chose this spot to built a substantial hill fort and defensive complex. On reaching the top, I could see that the fort itself had been of an elongated oval shape, following the contour of the flat top on the hill. It seemed that quite a large area was enclosed within the outer walls, and had you been approaching from any angle below the fort, you would have met with the defensive walls after your very steep climb. It was easy to understand how such a place could be so difficult to attack. Of course, there is not too much left of the hill-fort today. You can see the outline of where the outer walls were, and three trenches crossing the site at different points.These were dug in the early part of the 20th Century, and were part of the first archaeological excavation of the site.
One of the great things about the hill-forts of Easter Ross is the fact that from any given one, you can see another, or maybe two. This is no coincidence, or not simply due to the fact that all the forts are on top of hills. The Picts were advanced when it came to warfare and defence. They developed an early warning system of fire beacons. When an attack was imminent, it is thought they would set fire to a prepared beacon of wood and bushes, and in turn, the other hill forts would see this and set fire to their beacons. This would result in the whole area being warned of an oncoming attack, and the direction of the attack could be easily determined.
King Brude, a Pictish king, was known to live around the Inverness / Loch Ness area. This would have meant that this very area was the heart of the Pictish kingdom. Nobody knows for sure where King Brude actually lived, but we can make an educated guess. There are two possible sites where he could have been. One is Craig Phadrig above Inverness, a pictish hill fort with a dominating position at the mouth of the Great Glen. The other is the site on which Urquhart Castle now stands on the shore of Loch Ness. It is known that a Pictish stronghold was there long before the castle was built, and the site itself is a natural fist of rock with a flat top, making it ideal for such a structure.
However, I believe that the site of the Pictish King's abode was indeed Craig Phadrig. The reasons I believe this are as follows:
The site at Urquhart Castle is indeed a defensive one, and you only have to look at the way in which the castle's builders have utilised this to understand why such a place was used. As the whole site has its back to Loch Ness, any attack would have to come from the front. In doing so, the attacker would have to run down a hill and along a vulnerable flat area over which the fort has a dominant position. Difficult, but not difficult enough. If you were to walk up the nearest hill to the fort, you would be able to see right into it, and all its goings-on. This does not sound like the place for a king to live. As well as this, there are no other hill forts visible from the Urquhart Castle site. This also sounds strange, as the early warning system of beacons from the other hill forts could not be used. This, in my opinion, puts the Urquhart Castle site in too much danger, and too vulnerable for King Brude. There was definitely a Pictish fort there, and was almost certainly visited on a regular basis by King Brude, but I do not believe that is where he based himself.
Craig Phadrig, on the other hand, is an ideal situation. It is on the summit of a very steep hill, with good clear views all around. The earthwork and remains of the fort is one of the largest examples I have ever seen, and must have been quite a spectacular site at one stage. Below the fort stands Inverness, which would have been a boggy floodplain in the days of the picts, perhaps farmed during peaceful times. More importantly, from the Craig Phadrig site, five other fort sites can be seen, with Craig Phadrig itself in the center. This sounds ideal as the seat of the king, with an attack warning available from any direction. If the Knockfarrel fort, where we started our journey, were to light a beacon, it would be seen easily by Craig Phadrig, some 20 miles away. A warning of an attack from a distance of 20 miles leaves good time in which to prepare defences and take any necessary measures. It is for this reason I like to believe that King Brude did indeed live at Craig Phadrig.
After taking a few snaps of the area, my wind-blasted ears were telling me that it was time to head back down. Before I left, I had one last look at what must have been a very busy place in it's day, and the thought of the work needed to construct such huge hill forts boggles the mind.
Life in the Scottish Highlands must have been one long struggle for survival in Pictish times, and in constant danger of attack, these must have been a hardy and powerful people in their own right.