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Mingulay, Dun Mhiughlaigh
Promontory Fort (Prehistoric)
Site Name Mingulay, Dun Mhiughlaigh
Classification Promontory Fort (Prehistoric)
Alternative Name(s) Dun Mingulay
Canmore ID 21376
Site Number NL58SW 1
NGR NL 54779 82322
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/21376
- Council Western Isles
- Parish Barra
- Former Region Western Isles Islands Area
- Former District Western Isles
- Former County Inverness-shire
NL58SW 1 54779 82322.
(NL 5477 8230) Dun Mingulay (NAT) Fort (NR)
OS 1:10,000 map, 1971.
Promontory Fort, Dun Mingulay: It is defended by a stone wall built across the end of the peninsula facing the approaching ridge. The wall has for the most part disappeared, but in one place shows an outer face of dry-stone building standing some 3' in height.
RCAHMS 1928.
Dun Mingulay, a promontory fort situated at the SW tip of Mingulay, is defended by high sheer cliffs on three sides, and by a grass-covered dry-stone wall, c. 1.6m thick, built across the NE end of the peninsula. The outer face of the wall is visible along the whole of its length to a maximum height of 1.6m, but only a vague trace of the inner wall face remains. The entrance, about 1.0m wide, appears to be at the S end of the wall.
A grass-covered earthen bank, 4.5m wide and 0.8m high extends 20.0m in a NW direction from the inner face of the wall at a point midway between the N and S ends, but this appears to be a secondary feature.
Surveyed at 1:10560.
Visited by OS (N K B) 20 May 1965.
Centred NL 545 820: On the S slopes of Dun Mingulay are several unclassifiable structures. The best preserved is an oval cell measuring internally 3.0m by 2.2m within 3 courses of corbelled walling. Other structures include a 3-sided structure about 1.5m square and two wall-courses high; also the remains of another oval cell and several amorphous piles of stones.
These structures are all situated in exposed positions and cannot be related to each other, or to the dun.
Visited by OS (D W R) 29 August 1973.
Dun Mingulay is a large, precipitous promontory fort on the SW coast of Mingulay that is cut off by a drystone wall. The wall traverses the seaward side of the narrow neck linking the promontory to the island, exploiting the defensive qualities of a low cliff some 4m in height, which tails off into a steep scarp towards the S. The wall itself is relatively narrow, measuring little more than 1m in thickness where both faces are visible at its N end, but up to five courses of the outer face are visible where it steps up the scarp to the edge of the low cliff. Several small pens can be seen within the interior (NL58SW 12), which extends to about 20 ha.
MING03 360
Visited by RCAHMS (AGCH) 26 June 2003
The fort was investigated during an outing organised by the Schools Hebridean Society in 1971. The grass-covered drystone wall to the NE was said to be 1.6m wide and 30m long, running along the peninsula. It was noted that the US Navy had used the site as a training camp and there was a lot of rubbish on the site, some of it buried in shallow holes.
A MacLean Philips 1972
Field Visit (10 June 1915)
Promontory Fort, Dun Mingulay, Mingulay.
On the south-west of the island of Mingulay is a peninsula with precipitous sides rising from nearly 300 to over 400 feet above the water and connected with the island by a narrow ridged isthmus. The peninsula, which is ¾ mile in length from north-east to south-west, and about 300 yards across at its widest part, is known as Dun Mingulay, and has been defended by a stone wall built across the end of the peninsula facing the approaching ridge. It has for the most part disappeared, but in one place shows an outer face of drystone building standing some 3 feet in height.
RCAHMS 1928, visited 10 June 1915.
OS map: Barra lxx (unnoted).
Desk Based Assessment (29 January 1965)
(NL 5477 8230) Dun Mingulay (NAT) Fort (NR)
OS 1:10,000 map, 1971.
Promontory Fort, Dun Mingulay: It is defended by a stone wall built across the end of the peninsula facing the approaching ridge. The wall has for the most part disappeared, but in one place shows an outer face of dry-stone building standing some 3' in height.
Information from OS (JNH) 29 January 1965
RCAHMS 1928.
Field Visit (20 May 1965)
Dun Mingulay, a promontory fort situated at the SW tip of Mingulay, is defended by high sheer cliffs on three sides, and by a grass-covered dry-stone wall, c. 1.6m thick, built across the NE end of the peninsula. The outer face of the wall is visible along the whole of its length to a maximum height of 1.6m, but only a vague trace of the inner wall face remains. The entrance, about 1.0m wide, appears to be at the S end of the wall.
A grass-covered earthen bank, 4.5m wide and 0.8m high extends 20.0m in a NW direction from the inner face of the wall at a point midway between the N and S ends, but this appears to be a secondary feature.
Surveyed at 1:10560.
Visited by OS (N K B) 20 May 1965.
Field Visit (29 August 1973)
Centred NL 545 820: On the S slopes of Dun Mingulay are several unclassifiable structures. The best preserved is an oval cell measuring internally 3.0m by 2.2m within 3 courses of corbelled walling. Other structures include a 3-sided structure about 1.5m square and two wall-courses high; also the remains of another oval cell and several amorphous piles of stones.
These structures are all situated in exposed positions and cannot be related to each other, or to the dun.
Visited by OS (D W R) 29 August 1973.
1/1250 sketch on record card
Note (3 November 2014 - 23 May 2016)
The precipitous headland of Dun Mingulay, which drops 145m sheer into the sea along its NW flank and elsewhere descends in steps down to a more ragged cliff-edge about 70m high, is cut off by short length of wall. While of no great thickness, It presents five courses of a neatly-built outer face where it steps down across the slope from the crest of the outcrops 4m high facing onto the narrow neck. The interior measures about 650m from NE to SW by a maximum of 250m transversely (10ha). There is no evidence of an entrance, but the neck at the NE end represents the only possible point of access. The only features visible within the interior are three more recent animal pens, a marker cairn and a concrete mast plinth with five iron tethers.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 23 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC2480
