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Lewis, Upper Coll, Dunan
Chambered Cairn (Neolithic)
Site Name Lewis, Upper Coll, Dunan
Classification Chambered Cairn (Neolithic)
Alternative Name(s) Coll
Canmore ID 4295
Site Number NB43NE 1
NGR NB 45072 38199
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/4295
- Council Western Isles
- Parish Stornoway
- Former Region Western Isles Islands Area
- Former District Western Isles
- Former County Ross And Cromarty
NB43NE 1 4506 3819.
The much disturbed remains of a chambered cairn, 50ft in diameter and 4ft high. Towards the eastern side is the northern arc of a circular chamber, 6ft in diameter and now (in 1914) 3ft deep. Lying across the top of the chamber is a long narrow stone 8ft 8 ins long and 5ft in girth and almost parallel to it a large slab, 6ft long and 3ft wide with one end of the tumbled stones in the chamber, the other on top of the wall.
Large blocks in the SW quadrant may indicate the position of the entrance passage.
RCAHMS 1928.
This cairn situated on a low knoll is as described by RCAHMS except that its maximum height is no more than 3ft and the remains of the chamber are unconvincing: more probably they represent a modern adaptation of the remains, though the blocks still indicate that the cairn was chambered.
Visited by OS (A L F R) 20 Arpil 1964.
Field Visit (3 July 1914)
Chambered Cairn (remains of), Dunan, Coll.
Some 250 yards south-east of a small burn, Allt ant-Sniomh, on the gentle northern slope of a peaty moor, at an elevation of about 60 feet above sea-level, about 1 mile southwest of Coll farm and 3 ½ miles north-north-east of Stornoway, are the remains of the chambered cairn, Dunan. The cairn has been much disturbed and measures some 50 feet in diameter and 4 feet in height. Towards the eastern side of the mound is the northern arc of a circular chamber, 6 feet in diameter and now 3 feet deep, built of large boulders. Lying across th etop of the chamber on the eastern side is a long narrow stone 8 feet 8 inches in length and 5 feet in girth, while almost parallel to it is a large slab, 6 feet long and about 3 feet wide, lying with one end on the tumbled stones in the interior of the chamber and the other end resting on the top of the wall. The entrance passage is not traceable, but possibly was towards the south-west, where there is a number of large blocks mingled with the smaller stones of the cairn.
RCAHMS 1928, visited 3 July 1914.
OS map: Lewis xx.
Field Visit (26 September 2010)
The very top of a chambered cairn buried in deep peat can be seen in gently sloping moorland above the SE bank of the Allt an t-Sniomh. The visible cairn material is about 18m in diameter but the mound itself must be considerably larger, probably at least 25m in diameter. The top 0.8m of the chamber has been exposed on the SE, where up to three courses of large corbels are visible, together with three cap stones. Of these: one lies partly in the fill of the chamber, though its N end is still in place on the corbels; another smaller one also rests on the corbels at its N end; and the third, some 2.7m long, has been thrown off to the NE. At this upper level, the chamber is 2.8m across and is more or less level with the surface of the rest of the cairn.
Visited by RCAHMS (SPH) 26 September 2010
Field Visit (15 May 2021 - 13 July 2021)
NB 4507 4176 Canmore records “what may be four unroofed shielings” at Barashader (Canmore ID: 136458). There is another place name very close by (NB 45047 41720) “Clachan Glas” or grey stones. In this vicinity is a 14m diameter, c4m high mound of stones, which the surrounding blanket bog has not covered. One large orthostatic stone projects from the mound just east of its centre, and a linear depression runs from the centre out to the SW.
These attributes would suggest that this is in fact the remains of a chambered tomb. Having now visited all of the known tombs in the area (Carn a Mharc, Canmore ID: 4336; Dunan, Canmore ID: 4295; and Allt An-t-sniomh, Canmore ID: 4298), we can confirm the Clachan Glas bears many similarities, not least in the unusual way that the blanket bog surrounds these sites without covering them, but also in their locations at the edge of the higher ground with commanding views across the fertile lands below.
There are two other green mounds to the N of the main one described above. These may be the remains of the shielings recorded on Canmore.
Archive: NRHE and CNES SMR (intended)
Funder: Commun Eachdraidh Sgire a’ Bhac – Back Historical Society
Ian Mchardy – Back Historical Society – Commun Eachdraidh Sgire a’ Bhac (CEBAC)
(Source: DES Vol 22)
