Port Donain, Mull

NM72nW 5 7375 2925.

(NM 7375 2925) Chambered Cairn (NR)

OS 1:10,000 map, (1976)

Chambered Cairn, Port Donian: In a strip of trees, overlooking the small bay of Port Donain, there is a Clyde-type chambered cairn (Henshall 1972) measuring 32m in length by 11m in maximum breadth. Although it has been severly robbed, the remains of a chamber and of a facade are visible at the NE end, while those of a cist can be seen at the SW end. Possible kerb-stones are visible on the SE side and at the SW end. The portal stones and one stone of the concave facade remain in situ, and another stone has fallen; the E portal stone has, however, been broken in two, the stone lying in front of it being the upper portion. The W portal stone still stands to a height of 1.4m and measures 0.9m by 0.4m at its base. The chamber, aligned NE and SW, has measured about 3.4m by 0.9m internally; the two slabs of the SE side and the end-slab still survive, but the NW side has been completely destroyed.

The small cist at the SW end of the cairn measures about 0.6m by 0.4m internally and at least 0.4m in depth. It is composed of four slabs and is partly covered by a substantial capstone (1.35m long by 0.9m broad). An unusual feature of the cist is that the slabs used for the sides vary greatly in thickness, those on the NW and SE sides measuring 0.4m thick, and the other pair only 0.15m thick.

Surveyed at 1:10,000.

A S Henshall 1972; E R Cregeen 1957; J G Scott 1969; RCAHMS, visited 1973; Visited by OS (RD) 16 May 1972.