Vatersay, Biruaslum

Dun, Biruaslum, Vatersay.

On the west coast of Vatersay is a small island measuring about ¼ mile from east to west and slightly less from north to south. It forms a domical rocky cone rising to a height of 229 feet above the Atlantic. Its sides are generally precipitous, but towards the land on the east and to the south-east the rock slopes gradually up out of the water. A narrow, rocky gorge, bordered by a cliff 20 feet high on the landward side, cuts it off from the larger island. Only for a short time between the tides is this gorge dry, and as the islet is fully exposed to the Atlantic it is accessible only in good weather. Beyond the rocky gorge a flat shelf of limited area leads on to a gentle grassy slope, on which are numerous stones, possibly the remains of small stone buildings. Above this is a strong stonewall, the ends of which rest on the rocky shore about 100 yards apart, and which curves up for about 50 yards from the base of the hill. Viewed from the shore the outer face of the wall, that is on the concave and lower side, stands about 3 feet high, and it seems to be about 9 feet thick. On the north-western curve several bluffs of rock interpose, and the wall is discontinued at these places. On a shelf on the southern side of the island there are quantities of stones, said to be the remains of circular buildings of various sizes.

RCAHMS 1928, visited 12 June 1915.

OS map: Barra lxvi (unnoted).

The tidal island that forms a high cliff-girt promontory on the W coast of Vatersay is defended on the landward side overlooking the narrow isthmus that links it to the main island by a wall drawn in an arc riding up the slope from its terminals on the rocky shore. Some 110m in overall length, the wall measures about 3m in thickness and where best preserved at its southern end is about 2m high. The area cut off within the cliff-line, which rises towards the summit in the centre, measures some 390m from E to W by a maximum of 300m transversely (9.8ha). Immediately to the rear of the wall, strung out along the edge of the cliff on the S flank of the island there are about eleven circular structures between 3.5m and 8m in diameter and an oval pen, some of which are linked by walls to form two larger enclosures; in addition there are several other structures scattered to the W; the date and purpose of these structures are unknown, and while some may be relatively modern pens, others in the major clusters on the S may be huts (Branigan and Foster 2000, BM1-6).

Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 13 December 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC2483