Archaeology Notes

Event ID 674338

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/674338

NM57SE 1 5657 7124.

(NM 5657 7124) Dun (NR)

OS 1:10,000 map, (1974)

Dun, Rubha na h-Uamha: At the base of the rocky coastal headland of Rubha na h-Uamha, situated on the summit of an irregularly-shaped crag, there are the exceptionally well-preserved remains of a dun. At the E angle of the crag there is at present an isolated rocky stack which rises 3.4m above the boulder-strewn foreshore to the E. Originally it appears to have formed the higher S end of the easternmost of three parallel spines, but is now sundered from it by a cleft which appears to have been artificially cut. On the S and W flanks of the crag sheer rock-faces up to 5m high provide strong natural protection, and easy access was available only from the N, or seaward, side along the gullies lying between the spines.

The dun measures 18.3m by 10.7m within a dry-stone wall, which varies in thickness at the base from about 1.2m to 4.3m. The wall is remarkably well-preserved, particularly on the W, where for a considerable length, the outer face survives to a height of 2.4m in twelve courses and the inner face is only slightly lower. Further impressive stretches of the outer face may be seen on the S, immediately to the W of the entrance, and at the head of the easternmost gully on the NNE, where the line of the face is curiously convex on plan; the inward batter of the wall face in each case is very slight. On the E side of the dun the wall has been built against the base of the stack, so as to incorporate it in the defences as a natural bastion.

There are two entrances, one at each end of the dun. The southernmost, which is checked for a door, is the better preserved, the whole of the W passage-wall surviving to a height of 1.1m. At the other entrance, the E passage-wall, which still stands 1.9m high, appears to have subsided a little, and it is uncertain if the slight rebate that can now be seen is an original feature or merely the result of the distortion of the fabric. The E half of the interior is occupied by a rock-studded scarp, and the rest is choked with stony debris.

RCAHMS 1980, visited 1972.