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Dun Borve, Cuidrach, Skye
Dun (Prehistoric)
Site Name Dun Borve, Cuidrach, Skye
Classification Dun (Prehistoric)
Canmore ID 11134
Site Number NG35NE 6
NGR NG 38011 59767
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/11134
- Council Highland
- Parish Snizort
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Skye And Lochalsh
- Former County Inverness-shire
NG35NE 6 3801 5976.
(NG 3801 5976) Dun Borve (NR)
OS 6"map, (1968)
The much dilapidated remains of Dun Borve are situated on the summit of a rocky hillock rising from 25'- 30' above the surroundings. It measures internally 90' N-S along the main axis and 33' across, and has been defended by a stone wall built on the edge of the escarpment. The inner face is totally destroyed or concealed under debris, but a wall thickness of 9' is suggested round the W flank and a greatest thickness of 13' shows in the middle of the E flank at the entrance which is 3' 2" wide. An outer wall leaves the main wall 28' N of the entrance and curves S on a lower level and seemingly rises up the steep side of a rocky continuation of the fort level, over which it runs parallel to the main walls and returns to meet it at its S extremity. This wall, about 8' thick, encloses an area of the E of the fort about 93' in length and 28' at its widest. This enclosures was from the E directly opposite the fort entrance, and it may have been subdivided by a thinner traverse wall on its high level in the S.
In the interior of the fort opposite the entrance is the trace of a hut circle 19' in diameter internally, impinging on the W arc and situated in a shallow trench excavated across the ridge about 1' below natural level. About 12' N of the entrance abutting on the interior of the wall is a small hut circle 6' in diameter internally.
(RCAHMS 1928, visited 1921).
Dun Borve is as described by the RCAHMS. Adjoining the E side of the dun are a number of enclosures of a simlar nature to the "low level" enclosure, but the presence of a ruined house within one of the enclosures to the SE makes association doubtful.
Visited by OS (C F W) 2 May 1961.
Dun Borve, a dun generally as described and planned by the RCAHMS, except that the outer face of the outwork continues N to join the main dun wall at the NE corner. The entrance is 1.6m wide towards the inner end but the outer end is confused by debris. The larger hut circle described by the RCAHMS survives as a rickle of stones around the edge of a hollow, c. 6.0m in diameter. There are no obvious facing stones, but the rickle of stones appears to be the remains of a wall c. 1.0m thick, probably constituting the remains of a hut. It is not certain, but it appears to impinge on the dun wall rather than overlie it. Only excavation will determine if it is contemporary with the dun or later. The alleged hut 12' N of the entrance is not a hut and may be a later structure or simply scattered debris from the dun wall. The enclosures mentioned by previous OS field surveyor, to the E are contemporary with a depopulated steading.
Visited by OS (R L) 30 September 1971.
Field Visit (2 June 1921)
Dun Borve, Cuidrach.
On the summit of a rocky hillock rising from 25 to 50 feet above the surroundings, and 100 feet above sea-level, some 300 yards north-east of Cuidrach House and 2 ½ miles south-south-west of Uig, are the much dilapidated remains of Dun Borve. The segmental enceinte, which measures internally 90 feet from north to south along the main axis and 33 feet across, has been defended by a stone wall built on the edge of the rocky escarpment. The inner face is totally destroyed or concealed under debris, but a wall thickness of 9 feet is suggested round the western flank and a greatest thickness of 13 feet shows in the middle of the eastern at the entrance, which is 3 feet 2 inches wide. An outer wall leaves the main wall 28 feet north of the entrance and curves southwards on a lower level and seemingly rises up the steep side of a rocky continuation of the fort level, over which it runs parallel to the main walls and returns to meet it at its southern extremity. This wall, about 8 feet thick, encloses an area on the east of the fort about 93 feet in length and 28 feet at its widest. This enclosure has been entered from the east directly opposite the fort entrance, and it may have been subdivided by a thinner transverse wall on its high level in the south.
In the interior of the fort opposite the entrance is the trace of a hut circle 19 feet in diameter internally, impinging on the western arc and situated in a shallow trench excavated across the ridge about 1 foot below the natural level. About 12 feet north of the entrance abutting on the interior of the wall is a small hut circle 6 feet in diameter internally.
RCAHMS 1928, visited 2 June 1921.
OS map: Skye x (unnoted).
Note (22 January 2015 - 30 May 2016)
This small fortification occupies a rocky hillock immediately N of the road leading to Cuidrach. Roughly oval on plan, it comprises an inner enclosure on the summit of the hillock, measuring about 28m from N to S by 10m transversely (0.02ha) within a wall reduced largely to a band of rubble, and an outer enclosure or annexe of similar dimensions (0.02ha), apparently springing from the inner wall on the NE and S respectively to take in two lower terraces on the E. The inner wall is almost 4m in thickness at the entrance on the E, while that into the outer enclosure lies directly below it on the lower terrace. The two terraces within the annexe may have been sub-divided from each other by a transverse wall. Opposite the entrance within the inner enclosure a hut-circle some 6m in diameter within a lower stony bank, possibly overlies the enclosing wall; a second structure identified as a hut-circle by RCAHMS investigators in 1921 is probably of relatively recent date.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 30 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC2735
