Skye, Dun Neill

Dun Neill, Balmore.

On the western side of the peninsula, terminating in Harlosh Point and about ½ mile north of that promontory, is Dun Neill, which occupies the summit of a roughly oval, flat-topped rock, almost surrounded by water during high tides and rising in almost inaccessible rocks some 15 feet above the ground on the landward side, and from 20 to 40 feet above the beach on the remaining part of its circumference. The main axis of the rocky plateau runs north-east and south-west (260° mag.), and the main building of the dun occupies the north-eastern end. This building is oval on plan, measuring 76 feet from north-east to south-west externally and about 40 feet in breadth. The wall has almost entirely disappeared round the greater part of the dun, but on the landward side one, and, for a short section, two of the outercourses remain in position, the wall showing a thickness of 10 feet. The seaward part of the plateau, which measures some 55 feet in length and 30 feet in breadth in places, has apparently been surrounded by a stone parapet built on the edge of the rocks, but this has almost disappeared. The dun has been entered by a sloping gap in the rock on its northern side, and one step of a stair remains in situ. Between the wall of the dun and the edge of the rocks towards the land is a space about 10 feet in width, and there are indications of an outer wall at this part.

RCAHMS 1928, visited 13 May 1915.

OS map: Skye xxvii.

NG24SE 5 2814 4075.

(NG 2814 4075) Dun Neill (NAT)

Dun (NR) (remains of)

OS 6" map, (1969)

Dun Neill, a dun overlying the scant remains of a fort on a cliff girt coastal rock. The dun, oval on plan, measures 24.0m ENE-WSW by about 12.0m overall, with the wall 2.8m thick at the E end where parts of both the inner and outer wall faces can be seen. Four base stones of the outer face survive in the W and others are visible intermittently along the edge of the cliff in the S with the wall core suggesting a similar wall thickness for most of the extent. In the N the wall is a confused turf-covered spread of stones which have encroached well into the interior of the dun. A well-defined straight wall face visible intermittently within the core of the wall in the W may be a stabilizing wall, or possibly part of a later structure. The entrance passage in the NE, 1.4m wide, is visible at its outer end only, with the base course of the outer wall face continuing across it forming a level threshold. The access route to the entrance up a gap in the crag to the N shows signs of lateral revetment, and one step of a stair remains in situ. Within the dun is a turf-covered circular structure, 3.0m internal diameter, with an ill-defined entrance in the E it is uncertain whether it is built against the inner face of the dun wall or overlies it, and is of uncertain period or purpose.

Outside the dun in the W, a heavily robbed wall encloses the remainder of the summit of the rock. No wall faces survive and its thickness cannot be ascertained. Traces of what is probably the same wall are visible outside the dun in the E and there is little doubt that this represents the remains of an earlier fort measuring about 43.0m ENE-WSW by c.12.0m, transversely, robbed to build the dun.

Visited by OS (A A) 13 October 1971.

(RCAHMS 1928)

Field visits were undertaken to various sites, 20–22 April 2015, as part of a general survey of forts on Skye carried out by Simon Wood and Ian Ralston as part of the fieldwork for the former’s PhD research.

NG 28140 40750 Dun Neill (Canmore ID: 10861) Dun Neill is considered by the OS to be a dun overlying a fort. A strong argument can be made for it being just a dun with outworks. There is no obvious stratigraphic relationship between the oval walled dun and the small, ephemeral rampart remaining around the western, seaward side of the promontory. This wall has no obvious defensive function as it encloses an area surrounded on all sides by sheer cliffs, indeed it makes more sense that it was a wall contemporary with the dun preventing people or livestock from falling off the promontory. A flat, circular depression within the outwork on the seaward end may be the remains of a structure.

Archive: National Record of the Historic Environment (intended)

Funder: School of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh

Simon Wood and Ian Ralston – University of Edinburgh

(Source: DES, Volume 16)

This fortification, which occupies a precipitous stack that forms a coastal promontory on the W coast of the peninsular running down to Harlosh Point, comprises two elements: a later dun occupying the ENE end of the stack; and an earlier fort enclosing its whole summit. The dun is oval on plan, measuring 24m from ENE to WSW by 12m transversely over a wall up to 2.8m in thickness where it is preserved with both faces on the E; the outer end of the entrance passage is visible on the NE and the base course of the outer face forms its threshold. The remains of the earlier fort comprise a heavily robbed wall, which is most clearly visible on the W, where a band of rubble can be traced round the edge of the stack, but can also been detected outside the dun on the E. This wall encloses an area measuring about 43m from ENE to WSW by 12m transversely (0.04ha). Access to the entrance of the entrance to the dun was gained via a cleft in the N side of the stack, in which one step of a stair still remains in place. The interior of the fort is featureless, but a circular structure some 3m in internal diameter is probably built against the inner face of the dun wall.

Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 30 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC2691