Skye, Sgoir Beag
Promontory Fort (Prehistoric)
Site Name Skye, Sgoir Beag
Classification Promontory Fort (Prehistoric)
Canmore ID 71564
Site Number NG26SW 10
NGR NG 22485 61506
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/71564
- Council Highland
- Parish Duirinish
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Skye And Lochalsh
- Former County Inverness-shire
On the cliff edge 300m due N of Trumpan Church at a height of 35m OD are the remains of a small dun. The remains measure 12m N-S by 8m E-W over walls which in places still stand over 1m high. A deep natural ditch cuts the dun off from the landward side and there are traces of at least two banks or fallen walls beyond the ditch with a space of 10m between the two.
Visited by M A Nicolson, 1991.
R Miket et al 1991; NMRS MS/530.
Field Visit (29 September 1990)
NG26SW 10 2249 6151
A possible small fortification is situated on a small promontory along the line of the cliffs to the N of Trumpan Church. To the N and W the cliffs drop away to the sea, while to the S there is a precipitous drop into a gorge occupied by an unnamed stream. To the E, a ditch, measuring up to 5m across and 2.5m in depth, cuts off an oval area 13.5m from N to S by 8m transversely. Around the N arc of the area, cut off by the ditch, there is a fragment of walling 1.2m in thickness and 0.3m in maximum height. A ledge runs around the N side to a gap in the walling which may have been an entrance.
(WAT90 602)
Visited by RCAHMS (DCC) 29 September 1990.
Note (21 January 2015 - 18 May 2016)
This small promontory work stands on the edge of the escarpment to the N of the ruins of Trumpan church, where a deep stream gully cuts obliquely through on its way to the sea below. The resulting promontory is tiny, but a ditch some 13m long by 5m broad by 2.5m deep has been dug across its spine to cut off an area measuring no more than 8m in length. A fragment of wall about 1.2m in thickness is visible on the N margin of the promontory, below which a terrace swings round the N flank, apparently providing access to a possible entrance on the W. The date and character of this work are uncertain and there are insufficient traces of walling to identify this as a dun, as subsequently suggested by Murdo Nicolson (Miket 1991).
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 18 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC2733
