Skye, Dun Edinbain
Broch (Iron Age)(Possible)
Site Name Skye, Dun Edinbain
Classification Broch (Iron Age)(Possible)
Canmore ID 11145
Site Number NG35SE 4
NGR NG 3535 5092
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/11145
- Council Highland
- Parish Duirinish
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Skye And Lochalsh
- Former County Inverness-shire
NG35SE 4 3535 5092
(NG 3535 5092) Dun (NR)
OS 6" map, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1904)
Dun Edinbain. On the face of a terrace, near the edge of a slight rocky bluff, is the fragment of a broch. Only the outer ring of the foundations and a very short length of the inner face of the wall on the E are traceable. A shapeless heap of stones about 6ft in height occupies the greater part of the interior. It is circular and measures some 56ft in diameter externally; the wall has been about 11ft 6ins thick. The entrance cannot be detected, but on the W a short length of a narrow gallery from 2ft to 2ft 6ins wide is preserved.
RCAHMS 1928; A Graham 1949.
Dun Edinbain, a broch as described by RCAHMS though only about 0.6m of the inner face is not visible on the SSE side. The gallery is traceable on the NW and NE sides but its width cannot be determined due to fallen stone.
What may be the W wall of the entrance can be traced from the exterior as far as the gallery (or entrance to a cell) in the NW side.
There are remains of an earth and stone bank across the ridge, some 4.0m from the NW face of the broch, possibly an outwork. There are at least two buildings around the base of the broch, one to the NW, the other to the SE.
Visited by OS (A S P), 1 May 1961.
Field Visit (22 May 1915)
Dun Edinbain.
On the hillside above the south-eastern extremity of Edinbain township, at an elevation of about 350 feet above sea level, and built near the edge of a slight rocky bluff on the face of a terrace, is the fragment of a broch. Only the outer ring of the foundations and a very short length of the inner face of the wall on the east are traceable. A shapeless heap of stones about 6 feet in height occupies the greater part of the interior. It is circular and measures some 56 feet in diameter externally, and, as the wall has been about 11 feet 6 inches thick, the internal diameter has been about 33 feet. The entrance cannot be detected, but on the west a short length of a narrow gallery from 2 feet to 2 feet 6 inches wide is preserved.
RCAHMS 1928, visited 22 May 1915.
OS map: Skye xvi.
Publication Account (2007)
NG35 2 DUN EDINBAIN ('Dun Edinbane')
NG/3535 5092
This probable ground-galleried broch in Duirinish, Skye, is badly dilapidated and stands about 107m (350 ft) above sea level on a hillside; it is built near the edge of a slight rocky bluff. In the shapeless heap of stones only the foundation stones of the outer wallface are visible as a ring of boulders [2] but most of the inner wallface can be traced [1]. There are no signs of the entrance but short lengths of a narrow mural gallery are apparent on the north-west, south-west and south-east sides; in the north-west it is from 0.5 - 0.8m in width [4].
The remains of a bank of earth and stone run across the ridge, some 4.0m from the broch on the north-west, and some outward facing blocks suggest that this was a massive outer defensive wall. At least two buildings can be traced around its base, one on the north-west and the other on the south-east [1].
Dimensions: external diameter c. 17.1m (56 ft), internal c. 10.07m (33 ft): the wall proportion is therefore about 41%.
Sources: 1. NMRS site no. NG 35 SE 4: 2. RCAHMS 1928, 160, no. 512: 3. MacSween 1984-85, 43, no. 14 and fig. 14: 4. Swanson (ms) 1985, 842-43 and plan.
E W MacKie 2007
