Monument record 6333 - Stac na Beirgh, Garenin

10: NB (wrong ngr is given)
wall/promontory fort?
Situated on the east side of the natural promontory of Gob a' Chuthail, this fragmentary wall survives only as one or two courses of stone running over the isthmus of land and up the east facing cliffs on the promonontory, accessed from the north along the foot of the cliff on the mainland. Locals suggest that the promontory was used recently as a pen for 'Raider' sheep, sheep that raided crop plots in the village. To thisi end, walls of a more recent vintage may be seen on the landward side at the foot of the cliff, blocking access to the promontory by cutting the main path.

The wall on the promontory measures 1m in width and is over 100m in length. No running water source or signs of habitation, other than the wall, can be seen on the site. The stack that this site sits on is marked on both the 1895 OS map and the modern maps as being called 'Berie', this name traditionally indicated the presence of a fortification, though it is also frequently applied to apparently unfortified coastal features.
Burgess 1995, 45

Surrounding Land Status code - A Recommended Action - Monitor

NB14NE 3 1869 4500

NB 1950 4400 Based in and around the village of Garenin, the Garenin Landscape Survey carried out its second season of fieldwork during September 1995. Excavations were carried out on six sites that were discovered during the previous season's fieldwalking.
GLS10/95 NB 1880 4990 Promontory fort (Burgess and Gilmour 1995, fig 40). Identified during survey in the previous season this promontory fort sits on a stack immediately to the N of the village. Noted originally just as a sizeable wall (100m long, up to 3m thick and standing up to four courses high) that cut the stack from the mainland, extensive examination this year revealed eight to ten platforms one of which has a circular stone structure some 3m in diameter situated on it. The survey seen here was carried out to show the extremely defensible nature of the site (contour intervals at 1m) and a small excavation was carried out on the edge of the circular structure. While no dating or artefactual evidence was found during the excavation, the stone structure was confirmed as such and underneath the stone wall a large pit was discovered indicating several periods or phases of use. Small flecks of charcoal were recovered during wet sieving indicating potential for plant macro fossil work in future seasons.
Sponsors: Garenin Trust, Department of Archaeology (University of Edinburgh), Russell Trust, Society of Antiquities, Scotland.
C Burgess and S Gilmour 1995.
REPORT DATE: 14/02/2005

Christopher Burgess, 1995, Garenin Landscape Survey: interim report 1a 1994-1995 (Unpublished document). SWE41175.

Burgess, Christopher & Church, Michael, 1997, Coastal Erosion Assessment, Lewis. A Report for Historic Scotland (Bibliographic reference). SWE41000.