Lewis, North Tolsta, Traigh Geiraha, Caisteal A' Mhorair
Building (Medieval)(Possible), Dun (Medieval)(Possible), Quern (Period Unknown), Unidentified Pottery (Period Unknown)
Site Name Lewis, North Tolsta, Traigh Geiraha, Caisteal A' Mhorair
Classification Building (Medieval)(Possible), Dun (Medieval)(Possible), Quern (Period Unknown), Unidentified Pottery (Period Unknown)
Canmore ID 4401
Site Number NB54NW 1
NGR NB 5368 4970
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/4401
- Council Western Isles
- Parish Stornoway
- Former Region Western Isles Islands Area
- Former District Western Isles
- Former County Ross And Cromarty
NB54NW 1 5368 4970
(NB 537 496) Caisteal a' Mhorair (NAT)
OS 6"map, Ross-shire, 2nd ed., (1898)
There is a dun on Caisteal a' Mhorair. This is a pinnacle of rock rising some 70ft above the sand on the S side of Traigh Geiraha.
The flat, oval summit, measuring some 60ft from ESE to WNW by about 24ft, is encircled by a wall now 4 to 6ft wide and 1 1/2ft high. The greater part, towards the NW, "is occupied by a roughly rectangular chamber 32ft long and 14ft broad, entered 11ft from the NW end by a passage in the SW flank 2ft 9ins broad and walled for a length of 14ft. Access to this entrance is obtained by climbing a dangerously steep rib of rock opposite it, the cliff otherwise being unclimbable.
Opening from the SE end of the main chamber through a passage about 2ft wide and 4ft long is a smaller chamber lying transversely across the summit, 10 1/2ft long and 7ft broad. Between this latter division and the SE extremity of the summit, which contracts to a width of about 15ft, is a circular stone lined hollow 5ft in diameter and 1 1/2ft deep. A quernstone and fragments of rough hand-made pottery have been found here."
RCAHMS 1928, visited 3 July 1914.
Caisteal a' Mhorair is a substantial building divided into two compartments and generally as described by the RCAHMS, except that it does not encircle the summit of the rock stack on which it is situated. It is probably a medieval stronghold or 'late dun', examples of which occur in North and South Uist (cf RCAHMS 1928 xxxv, xl).
Surveyed at 1/10,000.
Visited by OS (A A) 14 June 1969.
Field Visit (3 July 1914)
Dun, Caisteal a' Mhorair, Traigh Geiraha, North Tolsta.
On the south side of Traigh Geiraha a sandy bay hemmed in by steep stony hills, about 1 ¼ miles north of Tolsta, are five isolated stacks or pinnacles of rock springing out of the sand and surrounded by water at certain stages of the tide. The outer pinnacle, Caisteal a Mhorair, which is the largest and highest and which is pierced from east to west by a natural tunnel through which the tide rushes, stands some 100 yards from the top of the cliff on the southern shore of the bay and rises some 70 feet above the sands. The flat oval summit measuring some 60 feet from east south-east to west-north-west and about 24 feet broad is defended by a wall 4 to 6 feet wide and now 1 ½ feet high built round the precipitous edge. The greater part of the summit towards the north-west is occupied by a roughly rectangular chamber 32 feet long and 14 feet broad, entered 11 feet from the north-western end by a passage in the south-western flank 2 feet 9 inches broad and walled for a length of climbing a dangerously steep rib of rock opposite it, the cliff otherwise being unclimbable. Opening from the south-eastern end of the main chamber through a passage about 2 feet wide and 4 feet long is a smaller chamber lying transversely across the summit, 10 ½ feet long and 7 feet broad. Between this latter division and the south-eastern extremity of the summit, which contracts to a width of about 15 feet, is a circular stone lined hollow 5 feet in diameter and 1 ½ feet deep.
A quern-stone and fragments of rough handmade pottery have been found here.
RCAHMS 1928, visited 3 July 1914
OS map: Lewis x.
