Islay, Dun Bharr A'chlaom
Dun (Later Prehistoric)
Site Name Islay, Dun Bharr A'chlaom
Classification Dun (Later Prehistoric)
Alternative Name(s) Dun Bhar-a-chlaom; Loch Gearach
Canmore ID 37457
Site Number NR26SW 30
NGR NR 22195 61489
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/37457
- Council Argyll And Bute
- Parish Kilchoman
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Argyll And Bute
- Former County Argyll
NR26SW 30 2219 6148
(NR 2221 6148) Dun Bhar-a-chlaom (NR)
OS 6" map, Argyllshire, 2nd ed., (1900).
Dun Bhar-a-chlaom [NR]
OS 1:10,000 map, 1981.
Dun Bhar-a-chlaom, 4/5 mile NNW of no. 18 [NR26SW 28]. An isolated rock above a swamp with high ground behind it, girt on top with well-built stone wall. Over-all area less than 35ft [10.7m] across.
(This is one of five duns situated on the moors between Loch Indall and Machair Bay (on the West coast): only a group of three near Loch Gearach were visited).
V G Childe 1935, no. 19.
A dun (information from RCAHMS to OS) situated on an isolated rock above a swamp, and having a close-knit slab foundation course, a narrow expanding entrance and an internal passage (? a gallery), which indicate affinity with the galleried-barrier forts and galleried duns. The overall measurements are 43ft N-S by 49ft E-W. The fort proper 24ft E-W by 12ft N-S is defined on the S by a 12ft wall, with suggestions of a gallery in a loose internal tumble, and on the N,E and W by two walls, each 7ft wide, with 5ft passage between, entered from the W. Half-way down the E slope is a semi-circular arc of walling, and, at the foot of the hill, a similar arc (Newall 1963).
V G Childe 1935; F Newall 1963.
The heather covered remains of a dun generally as described and measuring 15.0m E-W by 12.0m. There are mutilations within the wall but these cannot be identified as the remains of a gallery. The arcs of walling on the E could not be recognised.
Surveyed at 1:10 000.
Visited by OS (B S) 19 May 1978.
Field Visit (May 1976)
NR 221 614. Situated on the summit of an isolated rocky knoll, overlooking boggy ground on the right bank of the Linne Riabhach about 1.7 km NE of Kilchiaran House, there is a dun. On the SW, where the summit stands 12m above the level of the adjacent ground, a vertical rock-face 3m high, and precipitous slopes covered with grass and heather afford strong natural protection; elsewhere the flanks of the knoll are less steeply inclined and rarely exceed 4m in height.
The dun measures 18m by 14m over the ruins of a stone wall about 3m thick. Several long stretches and isolated stones of the outer face survive in situ, the best-preserved portion being on the NW, where exceptionally large blocks of stone were used in its construction and the face stands 0.6m high. No inner facing-stones were observed, but the inner line of the wall was obscured by a dense growth of heather and scrub, which covers most of the summit; in addition, the interior of the dun appears to be occupied by the ruined foundations of a comparatively recent subrectangular building.
The entrance is situated on the N, the relative position of the surviving portions of the passage walls indicating that it decreased appreciably in width towards the interior. Immediately outside the dun wall on the SE, there is a short length of walling which may have formed part either of a foundation platform for the main defence, or of an outwork, but the dense undergrowth on the flanks of the knoll on the date of visit made it impossible to ascertain its precise relationship and purpose. The rectangular foundation situated below the dun on the NE is of recent date.
RCAHMS 1984, visited May 1976.
Measured Survey (1976)
RCAHMS surveyed the dun at Dun Bharr A' Chlaom in 1976 at 1:400 using plane-table and self-reducing alidade. The plan was redrawn in ink and published at a reduced size (RCAHMS 1984, fig. 112B).
