Pricing Change
New pricing for orders of material from this site will come into place shortly. Charges for supply of digital images, digitisation on demand, prints and licensing will be altered.
Skye, Dun Totaig
Dun (Medieval)(Possible), Dun (Prehistoric)(Possible)
Site Name Skye, Dun Totaig
Classification Dun (Medieval)(Possible), Dun (Prehistoric)(Possible)
Canmore ID 10834
Site Number NG24NW 6
NGR NG 2375 4790
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/10834
- Council Highland
- Parish Duirinish
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Skye And Lochalsh
- Former County Inverness-shire
NG24NW 6 2375 4790.
NG 237 4790. Dun Totaig, a dun of unconventional type, the date of which is uncertain.
R W Feachem 1963.
Excavated by Countess Latour, and a mass of tumbled stone, it is sub-oval in shape measuring externally 89ft NW-SW and 48ft transversely. The thickness of the walling is indeterminate on the NW, but seems to be 18ft at the entrance and to vary from 15-23ft round the S arc, where one course only is traceable for a few yards. The entrance-passage is 4ft 10ins in width and is without checks. About 10ft from the entrance there is a cross-wall, only the ends of which remains project- ing from the side walls.
(RCAHMS 1928; A Graham 1949).
Dun Totaig, a dun, as described above. Poor condition.
Visited by OS (A S P) 8 May 1961.
Field Visit (15 June 1921)
Dun Totaig, Uiginish.
Dun Totaig occupies the summit of a small rocky ridge running north-west and south-east, about ½ mile west of Uiginish Lodge, and about 300 yards east of Ob Dubh, one of the inner recesses of Loch Dunvegan. On the south-west flank the rock is precipitous, rising about 30 feet in height, and on the north-east side it rises about 15 feet above the slight hollow which intervenes between the ridge and higher ground beyond; the south-eastern end is steep and rocky, and at the north-western end there is a narrow ridge falling away in a gradual slope. The elevation above sea-level is barely 100 feet.
The dun, now a mass of tumbled stone, has been partly excavated by the Countess Latour. It is sub-oval in shape, with the north-western end flattened, and measures externally 89 feet in length from north-west to south-east and about 48 feet in breadth. The thickness of the wall is indeterminate on the north-eastern flank, but is 18 feet at the entrance and seems to vary from 15 to 23 feet round the southern arc, where the outer foundation course is traceable for a few yards. The north-western end has been cleared of debris, and shows this part of the wall to be about 3 feet high and built of large blocks of stone, with the entrance passage near its centre averaging 4 feet 10 inches in width and running straight through without checks.
About 10 feet from the entrance inside there has been a cross wall, 3 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 6 inches thick, only the ends of which remain projecting from the side walls. The interior is full of debris, and in the south-eastern end a curved passage 2 feet 8 inches wide and 14 feet long, with a present height of about 4 feet, seems to be a later penetration of the main wall.
RCAHMS 1928, visited 15 June 1921.
OS map: Skye xxi (unnoted).
