Craig Phadrig fort

Craig Phadrig comprises an oval vitrified fort forming a flat crown on the forested hill above Inverness. The defences consist of an inner, heavily vitrified wall spread to a thickness of about 10 metres (m). This encloses an area about 75m by 25m. An outer wall, also heavily vitrified, encloses the inner citadel and is terraced onto the slopes below.

There are no visible traces of any structures within the fort. The fort has great views out over the Beauly Firth.

The first hillforts in Scotland  

Most hillforts in Scotland date from the Iron Age, the latter half of the first millennium BC. Some were also constructed (or reused) in the first millennium AD.

When Julius Caesar wrote De Bello Gallico in the middle of the 1st century BC, a first hand account of his Roman conquest of Celtic Gaul, he described contemporary Celtic hillforts, noting that: "they had secured a place admirably fortified by nature and by art."

This eloquent description captures the essence of a hillfort. The builders used both natural topography and well-built defences. Hillforts were both defensive strongholds and clear statements of land ownership and tribal belonging.

The exact location of Craig Phadrig fort is grid reference NH 638 449.
For details of how to access to the forest and the site, please see the Craig Phadrig web page.