Skye, Dun Vallerain
Fort (Prehistoric)
Site Name Skye, Dun Vallerain
Classification Fort (Prehistoric)
Canmore ID 11339
Site Number NG46NE 1
NGR NG 4647 6943
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/11339
- Council Highland
- Parish Kilmuir
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Skye And Lochalsh
- Former County Inverness-shire
NG46NE 1 4647 6943.
(NG 4647 6943) Dun Vallerain (NR)
OS 6" map, Isle of Skye, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1904)
Dun Vallerain of irregular plan, measures 140ft from NW to SE and 63ft from NE to SW, and is defended on the E. by a much dilapidated wall 17ft thick at the entrance following the contour of the hill, short sections of the outer face showing 4 or 5 courses of masonry in position. Through this wall the entrance, 5ft wide, leads into a large hollow on the summit. Round the remainder of the perimeter, which is for the most part precipitous, there are no traces of even a parapet. In front of the entrance there is a quadrangular area enclosed by two stone walls greatly destroyed but probably about 5ft thick, which spring from the precipice on either side of the summit and converge about 80ft from the inner gateway; the outer entrance to the dun lies at the point where these walls meet.
RCAHMS 1928.
Dun Vallerain embodies certain features which appear in broch architecture.
A Graham 1951.
Dun Vallerain, a fort, as described above. In poor condition.
Visited by OS (A S P) 25 April 1961.
Field Visit (2 June 1921)
Dun Vallerain, Digg.
Overlooking the township of Digg from the north-west is a somewhat conical hill rising to a height of over 500 feet above sea-level, with a very steep gradient from all sides. From the north-west to the south-east the slopes are surmounted by cliffs from 20 to 50 feet in height. The summit, which falls towards the north-east, is attained by a winding grassy path up a steep slope from the same direction, rising from the edge of a lochan among the hills. The fortified area, which is of irregular plan, measures 140 feet from north-west to south-east and 63 feet from north-east to south-west, and is defended on the east by a much dilapidated wall 17 feet thick at the entrance following the contour of the hill, short sections of the outer face showing four or five courses of masonry in position. Through this wall the entrance, 5 feet wide, leads into a large hollow on the summit. Round the remainder of the perimeter, which is for the most part precipitous, there are no traces of even a parapet. In front of the entrance there is a quadrangular area enclosed by two stone walls greatly destroyed but probably about 5 feet thick, which spring from the precipice on either side of the summit and converge about 80 feet from the inner gateway; the outer entrance to the dun lies at the point where these walls meet.
RCAHMS 1928, visited 2 June 1921
OS map: Skye iv.
Note (19 January 2015 - 7 November 2016)
This fortification occupies the precipitous summit of a conical hill forming a spur of the higher ground rising up to the W of Digg. The defences comprise two walls, the upper drawn from NW to SE along NE flank of the summit, with its ends resting on the cliffs to either side, and the outer taking in an irregular annexe on the slope below. The upper is a particularly massive structure, measuring some 5m in thickness and still retaining up to five courses of the outer face in place. The entrance, which is a little SE of the middle of the NE side, is about 1.5m wide and opens into a hollow in the surface of the summit area. The interior measures about 42m from NW to SE by 19m transversely (0.07ha) and is otherwise featureless. The irregular annexe formed by the outer wall on the sloping NE flank measures about 37m from NW to SE by between 12m and 17m transversely (0.05ha). Its wall is comparatively thin at about 1.5m and is broken by an entrance on the N.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 07 November 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC2715
