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Kilwhimen Barracks is an Iron Age fort located near Fort Augustus in Inverness-shire, occupying a strategically significant position in the Scottish Highlands. The monument sits upon bedrock formed during the Neoproterozoic era, specifically an unnamed felsic igneous intrusion that would have shaped the local topography and provided a naturally defensible foundation for settlement.
The fort belongs to the tradition of Iron Age hillforts and defended settlements that characterised Highland Scotland during the pre-Roman and early Roman periods. Its location near Fort Augustus reflects the enduring strategic importance of this Great Glen corridor, which would later become a focus for military installation and control. The underlying geology of felsic rock—harder and more resistant than softer sediments—would have influenced both the fort's construction methods and its long-term preservation.
The monument is protected by Historic Environment Scotland under the reference SM9903, recognising its significance as a rare surviving example of Iron Age defensive architecture in the Scottish Highlands. Kilwhimen Barracks contributes to understanding the settlement patterns and territorial organisation of Iron Age Highland communities before the transformations wrought by Roman expansion and subsequent historical periods.
Kilwhimen Barracks, Fort Augustus is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM9903. View the official record →
Kilwhimen Barracks is an Iron Age fort located near Fort Augustus in Inverness-shire, occupying a strategically significant position in the Scottish Highlands. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM9903.
Kilwhimen Barracks, Fort Augustus dates from the iron age period, and is classified as a fort augustus. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Kilwhimen Barracks, Fort Augustus is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic Environment Scotland — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Scotland. The official designation reference is SM9903.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Caledonian Canal, Fort Augustus to Loch Ness (0.4 km), Cherry Island, crannog, Inchnacardoch Bay, Loch Ness (1.5 km), Caledonian Canal,Kyltra Lock to Fort Augustus (1.9 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Kilwhimen Barracks, Fort Augustus's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Kilwhimen Barracks, Fort Augustus stands on Unnamed Igneous Intrusion, Neoproterozoic, bedrock that formed in the Neoproterozoic. The rock here is felsic-rock.