Benbecula, Eilean Iain
Building(S) (Medieval), Causeway (Prehistoric), Dun (Prehistoric), Naust (Medieval)
Site Name Benbecula, Eilean Iain
Classification Building(S) (Medieval), Causeway (Prehistoric), Dun (Prehistoric), Naust (Medieval)
Canmore ID 9974
Site Number NF75SE 6
NGR NF 7889 5351
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/9974
- Council Western Isles
- Parish South Uist
- Former Region Western Isles Islands Area
- Former District Western Isles
- Former County Inverness-shire
NF75SE 6 7889 5351.
(NF 7889 5351)Dun (NR) (Site of)
OS 6"map, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1903)
A small island, Eilean Iain, is occupied by the remains of a dun. A wall, standing in places to 4ft, surrounds the island at water level. A probable causeway (only a few stones were seen in 1915 above the water) connects the dun to a promontory 80 yards. south-east. The foundations of a small suboval building, 8ft NW/SE by 7ft NE/SW internally, lie on the bank of the loch just where the causeway would reach the shore.
RCAHMS 1928.
The remains of a dun as described by RCAHMS. Within the surrounding wall there are the remains of three boat-shaped buildings which have walls 1.3metres thick by 1.2.metres high. The westmost building has an out-building (? modern) constructed on its N side. There are now only slight traces of the causeway, but there is a very distinct harbour at the west end of the island, where there is a break in the wall.
Surveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (R D) 18 May 1965.
Field Visit (16 July 1915)
Dun, Eilean Iain, Loch Eilean Iain.
About 1 1/8 miles north of the Established Church of Benbecula, on the north-eastern arm of Loch Eilean lain, is the small island from which the loch takes its name. The island, which is about 35 yards in length, is occupied by a dun with its wall built round the water's edge. Seen from the shore this wall has been of some strength, as the stones cover a space of considerable width. It is in a ruinous condition, but in places the outer face of the wall still stands to a height of about 4 feet above the water. The interior is hidden by vegetation. Between the dun and a promontory on the eastern shore of the loch, some 80 yards southeast of the dun, a line of stones is seen projecting at intervals slightly above the water, suggestive of a submerged causeway, as no similar arrangement of stones is to be seen at other places.
On the bank of the loch, just above where the causeway would reach the shore, is the stone foundation of a small sub-oval building, measuring internally 8 feet from north-west to south-east, and 7 feet from north-east to southwest, with a doorway facing the loch.
RCAHMS 1928, visited 16 July 1915.
OS map: South Uist xliv.
