Isle of Whithorn Promontory Fort

About Isle of Whithorn Promontory Fort

The small square tower at the southernmost point of the Isle of Whithorn is a local landmark. It is a favourite place amongst locals, to sit and contemplate the Solway Firth. It is visible to returning fishing and pleasure boats coming into the Isle. There are dangerous rocks called The Screens here which have in the past wrecked boats. One tragic recent shipwreck is marked here too. The sinking of the Solway Harvester, in January 2000, with the loss of all hands, is painfully remembered locally. This viewpoint has attracted settlement for thousands of years and you climb across the ramparts and ditches of an Iron Age promontory fort to reach this high point and you can look back to see cultivation marks in the field below. As you walk up to the tower, you cross several defences, consisting of two ramparts between three ditches. There are also stretches of rubble on the seaward side. The Isle fort is one of several promontory forts dotting both east and west coasts of the Machars. What the links are with nearby Whithorn and its early development as a post-Roman Christian centre, importing luxury wares from as far afield as the Mediterranean, remain to be investigated.