Kilearnan
Broch (Iron Age)(Possible)
Site Name Kilearnan
Classification Broch (Iron Age)(Possible)
Alternative Name(s) Allt A' Choire Mhoir
Canmore ID 7068
Site Number NC91NW 2
NGR NC 9216 1887
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/7068
- Council Highland
- Parish Kildonan
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Sutherland
- Former County Sutherland
NC91NW 2 9216 1887
(NC 9216 1887) Broch (NR).
OS 6" map, (1964)
On the W bank of the Allt a' Choire Mhoir, are the ruins of a broch. No portion of the inside of the wall is discernable, and only here and there the lowest course of the outer face.
RCAHMS 1911.
The remains of this broch now appear as a prominent rubble covered mound some 3.0m high on the N side, and falling steeply to the burn in the S. Inside, two short sections of inner face are visible giving an internal diameter of circa 10.0m. In the SE a short length of wall face is by its plan position either a displacement of the inner face, or outer face of a mural chamber. A length of broch outer face in the SW gives the wall a thickness of approximately 4.9m. Below this face, two short stretches of set stones appear to be the remains of a revetment or outer wall of indefinite purpose. The entrance may have been in the E, where there is a collapse. From the edge of the steep gully in the SE round to the NW are the remains of a shallow ditch and low stone rampart. It has been mutilated by an old track and later work.
Revised at 1/10,000.
Visited by OS (J D) 31 May 1961 and (J B) 1 April 1976.
Publication Account (2007)
NC91 1 ALLT a' CHOIRE MHOIR (‘Kilearnan’)
NC/9216 1887
Probable broch in Kildonan, Sutherland, in the form of a conspicuous rubble-covered mound next to the steep side of the burn (allt) valley; the stream leads down to the river Helmsdale. Traces of the inner and outer face are visible, indicating a thick-walled circular building with an internal diameter of 10.0m and a wall about 4.9m thick. By 1985 the internal diameter was evidently not measurable [3]. From the edge of the steep gulley on the south-east and round to the north-west are traces of outer defences in the form of a shallow ditch and a low, external stone rampart. On the east side, where the approach to the site is also over level ground, there appear to be no outer defences [3].
Sources: 1. NMRS site no. NC 91 NW 2: 2. RCAHMS 1911a, 106, no. 312: 3. Swanson (ms) 1985, 792 –93 and plan.
E W MacKie 2007
