Skye, Dun Colbost

Dun Colbost, Colbost.

On the hillside rising from the western shore of Loch Dunvegan above the township of Colbost, at an elevation of about 320 feet above sea-level and ½ mile distant from the sea-shore, is a small plateau running east and west, and running from 20 to 30 feet above the surrounding ground, which at this part is fairly level. The edge of the plateau is rocky and in places these rocks rise perpendicularly from 10 to20 feet (Fig. 211). The plateau is occupied by Dun Colbost, a broch, now in a ruinous condition, much of the spoliation having taken place in recent years. The broch measures 52 feet from east to west and 57 feet from north to south on the axes externally; the wall, built of large blocks of stone laid in courses and having the usual batter, varies from about 11 to 12 feet in thickness. The inside wall is entirely obscured by the tumbled stones with which the interior is encumbered except fora short section on the west. The outer face of the wall can be traced all round, though much is hidden under fallen stones. On the east it is about 9 feet high, on the south 4 feet, on the west 6 feet, and on the north 7 feet. The entrance cannot be distinguished, but was probably on the west where the wall is broken. On the northern arc of the wall the western end of a ruined oval chamber is noticeable, the width being 3 feet 10 inches, its inner wall 3 feet 3 inches and its outer 4 feet 2 inches thick. On the east an opening 2 feet 10 inches wide and 5 feet 6 inches long has led from the interior into a gallery, 2 feet 3 inches wide, with outer wall 3 feet 9 inches thick. On entering, a short length of the gallery is on the left or north, and the main part is to the right. Though no steps are visible this has probably been the staircase, ascending to a higher level and apparently continuing as a gallery round the broch, as indicated from parts observed in the southern and north-western arcs, where it measures 2 feet and 1 foot 7 inches wide respectively.

The broch has been provided with an outer line of defence in the shape of a stone wall built near the rocky edge of the plateau and across the ridge at distances varying from 10 feet on the south-east to 27 feet on the north from the main building. This wall is best preserved where it crosses the ridge, and here it shows a thickness of about 6 feet and a height of 3 feet in places. The plateau extends about 20 yards to the west beyond the wall. The outer entrance to the broch seems to have been by a slanting roadway up a break in the rocky scarp of the plateau on the north-west.

RCAHMS 1928, visited 10 June 1921.

OS map: Skye xxi.

NG24 1 DUN COLBOST

NG/2055 4947

Broch in Duirinish, Skye, standing on a sheer-sided, flat-topped, rock knoll from 6.1 -9.2m (20-30 ft) high; it stands on a bleak stretch of moorland but overlooking modern houses and fertile fields below (visited 22/4/63 & 15?/8/85). The sea is not far away, nearly 61m (200 ft) below The structure is badly ruined and full of debris, much of which is grass-covered; stone-robbing had apparently taken place not long before 1921 [2]. During the 1980s excavations took place outside the broch (below).

Description

The exterior wallface is visible and includes some large stone blocks; it has a battered slope. The entrance is not apparent but may be on the west side where there is a radial depression in the rubble; a possible fallen innermost lintel for the passage has been seen among the rubble in the interior [4]. The Commission's plan shows the central court as oval in plan [2] but Swanson thinks it more circular [4, plan].

On the north (or at about 9 o'clock) is a mural cell of which only the rounded west end is apparent: its width is about 1.17m (3 ft 10in). This feature was not as clear in 1985 as it was in 1921 [2] but one possible function for it is a stair-foot guard cell; an entrance to the interior was once apparent here [2]. Immediately clockwise of this (at about 10 o'clock) a short length of upper mural gallery is apparent with one lintel in position over it. There may be a lower gallery connecting with the west end of the cell and running anti-clockwise from it; one of its lintels has been noted [4].

On the east side (at about 1 o'clock) is a partially lintelled doorway in the inner wallface – 0.86m (2 ft 10in) wide (or 0.55m [4]) and 1.68m (5 ft 6in) long – which leads to what is almost certainly a ground level gallery with a width of 0.69m (2 ft 3in). A short length of this can be seen to the left of the door where it runs under some lintels still in position. There are traces of an upper gallery in the south-eastern arc of the wall, above the lower one just described; at about 2 o'clock there seems to be a raised void leading from the gallery to the central court. It is possible that a stair leading to the upper galleries rises to the right of the doorway instead of at 10 o'clock. Presumably there is a scarcement in the inner wallface hidden below the rubble.

In the north-west (from about 7-8 o'clock) there are further traces of a mural gallery visible on the wallhead and 48cm (1 ft 7in) wide: since the wall stands in places up to 2.75m (9 ft) high these would seem also to be part of an upper gallery.

An outer wall runs round the edge of the plateau on the east and south, and across the ridge on the west; its distance from the broch varies from about 3.05m (10 ft) on the south-east to some 8.24m (27 ft) on the north. The part crossing the ridge to the west and south-west – the easiest approach to the site – has a width of 1.83m (6 ft) and a height of 91cm (3 ft) in places. There may be a narrow doorway through this wall on the north-west.

Recent excavations

Three areas outside the broch were explored in 1989-1991 and a summary of the details is available [1, 6]. The explorations were evidently not deep enough to reconstruct the history of the site. It is not easy to understand the purpose of such a limited exploration, unless as a training exercise.

Dimensions

The broch appears to be slightly oval with external diameters of, from east to west, 15.86m (52 ft) and from north to south 17.39m (57 ft): Swanson records an internal diameter of 9.6m [4]. The wall is from 3.35-3.66m (11-12 ft) thick so the average wall proportion, only approximate, is about 42-43%.

Sources: 1. NMRS site no. NG 24 NW 5 (plan): 2. RCAHMS 1928, 156, no. 506 & fig. 223: 3. Graham 1949: 4. Swanson (ms) 1985, 864-65 & plan: 5. MacSween 1984-85, 42, no. 8 & fig. 8: 6. A MacSween & D Reed in Discovery and Excavation in Scotland 1989, 35: Ibid. 1990, 28 & Ibid. 1994, 40.

The broch known as Dun Colbost, which occupies a flat-topped hillock edged with low cliffs, is enclosed by a substantial outer wall about 2m in thickness, forming a roughly oval enclosure measuring internally about 32m from NNE to SSW by 26m transversely (0.07ha). By and large the wall follows the cliff-edge, but on the W it cuts back across the crest of the hillock, perhaps suggesting in this case that the enclosure is firmly focused on the broch, rather than in this instance it is an outwork rather than a free-standing enclosure. The entrance is on the NW, while the doorway into the broch is on the WSW. Excavations which examined the area between the broch and the outer wall are as yet unpublished.

Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 31 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC2749

NG 2065 4949, NG 2061 4953, NG 2056 4958 A watching brief was kept during the excavation of small trenches for three replacement poles for an overhead power supply around the foot of the hillock upon which Dun Colbost Broch stands. Nothing of archaeological significance was uncovered in any of the trenches.

Archive deposited with RCAHMS.

Funder: Scottish and Southern Energy.