Isle Head
This promontory is nearly bisected by Chapel Port east and west. The artificial ditch of the Old Fort is still clearly visible on the approach to Isle Head.
Isle Head multivallate fort consists of 3 ramparts and 2 ditches with a probable 4th rampart now reduced to a slight scarp. On the seaward side of the promontory are intermittent stretches of rubble linking and utilising natural outcrops of rock and in the south-east corner inner and outer faces, indicating the footings of a wall up to 3.1m wide. On the levelled summit area are slight indications of rubble walling and artificial scarping on the south and east sides and in the north-east corner are the possible remains of a hut circle.
A small block of rig on is clearly visible on Isle Head, lying between the path leading to the promontory and the ramparts and ditch of the Iron Age fort. The furrows, are orientated from NE to SW across the promontory.
A witness cairn was erected in 1997 to commemorate the arrival of the Christian missionary St Ninian to these shores and pilgrims are encouraged to place stones with personal messages onto a rock cairn. These cairns are sited in the remains of a building used to house the Isle of Whithorn lifeboat.
The lifeboat building had a roof until well after the Second World War although the station was closed in 1919, when a motor lifeboat was placed on station at Kirkcudbright. The Lifeboat Station was set up in 1869. During the 50 years that the lifeboat station was operating there were three lifeboats: Charlie Peake (1869–1886), 7 launches and 10 lives saved. Henry and John Leighton (1886–1901), 12 launches and 22 lives saved. George and Margaret (1901–1919), six launches and six lives saved. The Solway Harvester Seat is a granite-hewn and is one of two local tributes to the seven-strong local crew of the fishing boat Solway Harvester which sank in a storm off the Isle of Man in January 2000.
Read more about this topic: Isle Of Whithorn
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