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South Uist, Milton, Eilean An Staoir
Causeway (Prehistoric), Crannog (Prehistoric)(Possible), Dun (Prehistoric)
Site Name South Uist, Milton, Eilean An Staoir
Classification Causeway (Prehistoric), Crannog (Prehistoric)(Possible), Dun (Prehistoric)
Canmore ID 9849
Site Number NF72NW 9
NGR NF 73292 25954
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/9849
- Council Western Isles
- Parish South Uist
- Former Region Western Isles Islands Area
- Former District Western Isles
- Former County Inverness-shire
NF72NW 9 73292 25954.
(NF 73292 25954) Dun (NR) (Site of)
OS 6"map, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1904)
Remains of a dun on a small island. It is oval in plan, about 50ft E-W by 42ft N-S, with a space of 15 to 25ft between the wall and the water's edge. In 1914 the wall showed as a mass of tumbled stone rising 8ft above the water. A small part of the outer face of the wall was seen on the western side. A well-built submerged harbour was noticed on the NNW side of the island and a short arc of the foundation of a circular building was seen on the southern edge of the island.
RCAHMS 1928.
The grass-covered remains of the dun are as described above. The harbour can still be seen in the NNW but there is no trace of the outer face of the wall or of a circular building. The amorphous remains can be seen of several later structures built on and around the dun.
Surveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (R D) 8 May 1965.
Field Visit (22 August 1914)
Dun, Eilean an Staoir, Milton.
Immediately to the south of the farm of Milton, about 5 ½ miles north-west of Lochboisdale, is Loch Eilean an Staoir, near whose southern shore is a small island from which the loch takes its name. On the island are the remains of a dun, the wall of which shows as a tumbled mass of stone, rising about 8 feet above the surface of the water. A small part of the outer face of the wall is seen on the western side, the inner face and the remaining portion of the outer lace being obscured by fallen debris. The fort seems to have been oval on plan, with an approximate external diameter of some 50 feet from east to west and some 42 feet fromnorth to south, a space varying from 15 to 25 feet intervening between the wall and the water's edge.
On the north-north-west side of the islet is a well-built, submerged boat harbour, the western pier of which extends some 15 feet into the loch, showing a very regular width of 7 feet 6 inches of careful paving; while the eastern pier, which is built about 6 feet distant at the entrance, diminishing to a distance of 2 feet 8 inches at the inner end, is of irregular shape but also carefully paved. On the southern edge of the island a short arc of the foundation course of a circular building is also traceable.
RCAHMS 1928, visited 22 August 1914.
OS map: South Uist Iv.
Note (2003)
NF 7328 2597 Loch Eilean an Staoir, Milton. Broch/dun constructed into an artificial or modified island, or 'high cairn crannog', descending 1.5m into the loch.
Sponsors: Universities of Glasgow and Sheffield, King Alfred's College.
J A Raven and M Shelley 2003
