Skye, Dun Eyre

Dun Eyre, Eyre.

About 5/8 mile north-east of the road from Portree to Uig at the township of Eyre, at an elevation of 500 feet above sea-level, on a table-topped eminence on the northern side of Creag Moine overlooking Loch Snizort Beag, are the remains of Dun Eyre. The plateau on which it is situated is oval on plan, the main axis running north-north-west and south-south-east, and it is bounded for the greater part of its circumference by precipitous rocks, being accessible by a steep, narrow ridge from the south. On the western flank the rocks rise about 20 feet in height, and on the east about 10 feet. The internal dimensions of the fort are 100 feet long and 58 feet broad. The defences consist of very slight remains of a stone wall built round the edge of the plateau and measure 12 feet wide on the south-eastern flank and 15 feet at the southern end, where at a lower level the face of an outer wall of boulders following a curve similar to the inner, at a greatest distance of 16½ feet from it, is preserved across the ridge.

From the south end of the eminence, where the ground drops suddenly to a lower level, the approach to the fort is traceable between two lines of boulder stones set on end, 4 to 6 feet apart, for a distance of 58 feet, leading northwards to an opening in the outer wall somewhat towards the western side of the ridge. It then appears to angle northwards to enter the enceinte by a passage way 4 feet 6 inches wide through the main defence.

There have been a number of buildings in the interior of the dun, of which a rectangular construction, 12 feet in length by 8 feet in breadth, cuts at right angles into the eastern flank near the centre. A circular foundation 12 feet 6 inches in diameter, and possibly a second, lies to the west of the inside of the entrance.

RCAHMS 1928, visited 30 May 1921.

OS map: Skye xvii.

Situated on a precipitous hillock that rises from the W flank of Creag Moine, the defences comprise two walls barring access up the more accessible SE flank of the hillock to cut off an area measuring about 30m from NNW to SSE by 17m transversely. The inner wall, which is about 3.5m in thickness can also be traced along the steep E flank of the hillock. The outer faces of both walls can be traced on the SE, where they are pierced by a single entrance, which is approached externally by a trackway flanked by spaced boulders. The gaps in the two walls are slightly staggered, however, and the approaching visitors have to expose their left-hand side to gain access through the inner wall. On the SE side of the interior there is what may be a small stone-founded hut-circle some 3.8m in internal diameter, though it is possibly no more than a pen or bothy associated with the rectangular structure on the E.

Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 30 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC2714