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An Dun, Loch Ardbhair

Broch (Iron Age)(Possible)

Site Name An Dun, Loch Ardbhair

Classification Broch (Iron Age)(Possible)

Canmore ID 4550

Site Number NC13SE 1

NGR NC 16881 33240

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/4550

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Highland
  • Parish Assynt
  • Former Region Highland
  • Former District Sutherland
  • Former County Sutherland

Archaeology Notes

NC13SE 1 1688 3323.

(NC 1688 3323) An Dun (NR)

OS 6"map, (1967)

An Dun, Loch Ardbhair: This broch or dun stands on an isolated rock at the S end of Loch Ardbhair on its E shore, about 100' from the mainland, to which it is connected by a rough causeway of boulders, now part displaced. The broch is only approachable at low tide, and at high water there is little space between the edge of the rock and the base of the building. It is a dry-built circular construction with an interior diameter of 24', the wall being 10'6" thick near the base. The entrance passage is from the S, only 2' wide at the interior end, and remains to a height of 3'6" on the left side. The exterior end is not measureable. Of the outside wall, only one or two of the lowest courses of the building remain visible in places, and the rest is concealed by ruins. The interior has probably been cleared of debris, and there the wall exists to a height of 7'4". There are no signs of chambers in the walls, nor of galleries, the building is poor, the stones are not carefully selected and laid, and the numerous interstices are packed with small angular fragments. (RCAHMS 1911)

Listed as a broch. (A Graham 1949)

Visited by OS (C F W) 9 September 1960; RCAHMS 1911; A Graham 1949.

"An Dun": A well-preserved circular dun 6.9m in diameter internally. The wall varies in thickness between 3.1m at the entrance and 3.6m in the W arc, and is battered internally and externally. The entrance passage in the SSE is 0.7m wide contracting to 0.6m at its inner extremity; 1.1m along its W side from the inner end, 0.7m long, leading at right angles into the wall core, a fragment of built walling is suggestive of the entrance to a guard chamber. There is no indication of any other intra-mural features.

Visited by OS (J M) 14 August 1974.

This dun or broch is as described by the previous authorities except that the stonework is not remarkably poor. Its circularity, relative lack of natural defensiveness, and the proportion of the wall thickness to the overall diameter are features encountered in most brochs, and the quantity of tumble is commensurate with a wall of considerable height. Reservations on it being a broch are caused by its small size, and absence of evidence of intra-mural chambers. On balance it is more likely to be a broch. (See also NC23SW 1)

Visited by OS (J B) 14 August 1980.

Activities

Field Visit (7 June 1909)

An Dun, Loch Ardbhair. This broch or dun stands on an isolated rock at. the S. end of Loch Ardbhair on its east shore, about 100 feet from the mainland, to which it is connected by a rough roadway of boulders, now in part displaced. The broch is only approachable at low tide, and at high water there is little space between the edge of the rock and the base of the building. It is a circular dry-built construction with an interior diameter of 24', the wall being 10' 6" thick near the base. The entrance passage is from the S. , is only 2' wide at the interior end, and remains to a height of 3' 6" on the left side. The exterior end is not measurable. Of the outside wall only one or two of the lowest courses of the building remain visible in places, and the rest is concealed by ruins. The interior· has probably been cleared of debris, and there the wall exists to a height of 7' 4". There are no signs of chambers in the wall, nor of galleries; the building is poor; the stones are not carefully selected and laid, and the numerous interstices are packed with small angular fragments.

OS 6-inch map: Sutherland Sheet xlix.

RCAHMS 1911, visited (AOC) 7th June 1909.

Publication Account (2007)

NC13 1 LOCH ARDBHAIR NC/1688 3323

Probable broch in Assynt, Sutherland, standing on an isolated tidal rocky islet at the inner end of the sea loch of that name. A causeway about 100m long connects it with the shore. The inner and outer faces of the circular drystone structure can be tracedin places, suggesting an internal diameter of 7.32m (24ft) and a wall thick-ness of 3.15m (10ft 6in); the inner face stands 2.24m (7ft 4in) high in places.

An entrance passage is visible on the south side, only 60cm (2ft) wide at the outer end and standing 1.07m (3ft 6in) high on the left side [1]; there is a suggestion of the doorway to a guard chamber in the left wall 1.1m from the inner end [1]. There are no traces of intra-mural galleries or cells, and the quality of the masonry is not high.

Dimensions: the most recent figures [1] are an internal diameter of 6.9m and a wall which is 3.1m thick at the entrance and 3.6m on the west.

Sources: 1. NMRS site no. NC 13 SE 1: 2. RCAHMS 1911a, 2, no. 4: 3. Graham 1949, 95.

E W MacKie 2007

Field Visit (7 December 2009)

A well preserved Atlantic roundhouse with walls averaging 3.5m thick and standing to over 2.5m in height is sited on a tidal islet in Loch Ardbhair. The outer wall face is visible on the north side, but obscured by rubble elsewhee. The roundhouse has an internal diameter of 7m. There are stairs to the left of what appears to be the original the entrance on the SE side. Three steps are visible, c.0.7m wide lead between inner and outer walls. The entrance to the structure is 0.7m wide at the internal wall face, widening at the exterior. The rubble from the collapse of the walls spreads to c.4m out from the outer wall, and there is evidence that the S side is slumping/collapsing.

It was reported to the present surveyors that a trench had previously been excavated on the inside of the roundhouse from NE to SW, c.1m wide by c.5m long from the SW face. A grassy rubble mound on the NE side of the iselt may indicate the presence of spoil from this excavation.

(HLP_no 96)

Assynt's Hidden Lives Project 2009

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