North Uist, Loch A' Gheadais

Dun, Loch a Gheadais, Eaval

Loch a Gheadais lies at the south-eastern base of Eaval, close to the south-east corner of North Uist, in one of the most remote, wild and picturesque corners of the island. Some 40 yards south of the extremity of a peninsula on the east side of the loch is an irregular islet measuring about 80 feet from north to south, some 56 feet across the southern and broader end, and rising on the south about 14 feet above the loch. It is almost surrounded by a strong stone wall, built on the water’s edge and following the irregularities in the outline of the islet; at the south-west the wall is discontinued as the rock rises sharply out of the loch to a height of about 9 feet at this part. The wall still shows a general height of some 4 feet, but at places on the west and at the north reaches a height of 6 feet. At the latter part it is 5 feet 9 inches thick, but on the flanks it is much narrower, as at the mid-west where it is little more than 1 foot broad at the top. Access to the dun is obtained over a causeway that is submerged for a considerable part of its length, some portions being more than 1 foot under water. It is about 5 feet broad at the top, and follows a tortuous course. For the first two-thirds of its length it makes a slight double curve, after which it curves rather sharply towards the south-west.

The entrance through the wall of the dun seems to have been placed about 6 feet east of the island end of the causeway, as, although it is indistinguishable, there is a considerable quantity of fallen stone inside and outside the wall at this part, and there is no other opening through the wall, which is fairly well-preserved for some distance on both sides of the causeway. In a hollow in the interior some 17 feet from the northern end and about 10 feet from the western wall there is a ruined circular cell, about 5 feet in diameter internally, with a drystone wall about 2 feet thick, which seems to have been of beehive shape; impinging on it to the south is a mass of stone, possibly the remains of a second structure of the same character. Near mid-east the wall of the fort makes a sharp outward and returning curve, and though no building can be detected, a hollow on the top may indicate a small chamber within, or cutting into, the wall.

Visited by RCAHMS (JGC) 14 August 1915

The dun, causeway, and building are generally as described above. The walls of the dun are 1.3m thick. No entrance was noted. The drystone building in the NW corner is oval and measures 2.7 x 2.0 x 0.5m high, with an entrance in the SW corner. It may or may not be contemporary with the dun.

Visited by OS (R D), 8 June 1965.

NF95NW 1 9136 5938

(NF 9136 5938) Dun (NR)

OS 6" map, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1904)

An island fort is situated in Loch a' Gheadais. The islet is enclosed at the water's edge by a wall, 6ft high on the N, within which is a mound about 15ft high. The ruins of a small circular building stand within the main entrance on the northern (lower) end of the islet. A causeway, slightly curved at both ends, and 30 yards by 5ft wide, leads northwards to a broad point projecting into the E side of the loch.

Information from OS (MGC) 10 March 65

Source: E Beveridge 1911.