Ensay, Cnoc A' Chaisteal
Cairn (Prehistoric)(Possible), Dun (Prehistoric)(Possible)
Site Name Ensay, Cnoc A' Chaisteal
Classification Cairn (Prehistoric)(Possible), Dun (Prehistoric)(Possible)
Alternative Name(s) Dun
Canmore ID 10466
Site Number NF98NE 2
NGR NF 98149 86791
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/10466
- Council Western Isles
- Parish Harris
- Former Region Western Isles Islands Area
- Former District Western Isles
- Former County Inverness-shire
Field Visit (6 June 1914)
Dun, Cnoc a Chaisteil, Ensay House.
About 250 yards north of Ensay House on the east side of the island of Ensay in the Sound of Harris is a small hill , known as Cnoc a Chaisteil ("Castle Hill"), said to be the site of an old castle. No trace of this building is visible, but on a rocky knoll rising about 15 feet above the surrounding level and measuring about 36 feet across is a curved mound, possibly the remains of the wall of a dun which has otherwise disappeared.
RCAHMS 1928, visited 6 June 1914
OS map: Harris xxii.
Desk Based Assessment (8 March 1966)
(NF 9810 8676) Castle (NR) (Site of)
OS 6"map, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1903)
Cnoc a Chaisteil (Castle Hill) said to be the site of an old castle. No trace of this building is visible but on a rocky knoll (rising c.15ft and 36ft across) is a curved mound, possibly the remains of the wall of a dun.
Information from OS (BRS) 8 March 1966
RCAHMS 1928.
Field Visit (4 July 1969)
This is not a dun but the heavily robbed remains of a turf-covered cairn, about 15.0m in diameter and surviving to a maximum height of 1.5m, situated on the summit of Cnoc a' Chaisteal, at NF 9813 8678. The stones have been removed mainly from the southern half of the cairn. Re-surveyed at 1/10,000.
Visited by OS (N K B) 4 July 1969.
Field Visit (22 June 2012)
Originally classified by the Ordnance Survey (OS) as the site of an old castle, then by RCAHMS in 1928 as a possible dun and by the OS (1969) as a cairn, this grass-grown mound of rubble on Cnoc A'Chasteil is probably a dun. It measures about 8m in diameter within a wall that has collapsed to form a grass-grown stony bank up to 2m in thickness and 1.2m in height, which has been heavily robbed on the S arc. Possible outer facing stones are visible on the N and NW, while the line of the inner wall face is now largely evident as an uneven robber trench.
The site is depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6 inch map (Inverness-shire 1882, Sheet xxii). The contemporary Name Book records (5, 169) that the ‘ground has the appearance of there having been something of that sort' [ie a castle] and cites the sources for this information as AA Carmichael and Mr Stuart of Ensay House.
Visited by RCAHMS (GFG) 22 June 2012.
