Gallanach
Dun (Later Prehistoric)
Site Name Gallanach
Classification Dun (Later Prehistoric)
Canmore ID 22948
Site Number NM82NW 3
NGR NM 82296 26000
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/22948
- Council Argyll And Bute
- Parish Kilmore And Kilbride
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Argyll And Bute
- Former County Argyll
NM82NW 3 8229 2599.
(NM 8230 2600) Dun (NR)
OS 1:10,000 map, (1976)
This dun, standing on a low rocky promontory, measures 24.4 metres north to south by 19.8 metres transversely within a massive wall which varies in thickness from 2.1 metres on the SSE to 4 metres on either side of the entrance on the ENE. Long stretches of the outer and inner faces are visible, the best preserved sector being on the east where the debris has been cleared back to reveal the outer face rising to a height of 1.5 metres. The inner face is not more than 0.75 metres high, but the lowest courses are at present hidden under the spread of fallen material that covers much of the interior. In places, the rubble core of the wall stands as much as 1.8 metres above the level of the interior. An unusual feature of the wall is the presence of an internal revetment which may have been continuous but is now only visible for a distance of 2 metres on the SSW. The entrance on the ENE is 1.5 metres wide. The passage is largely choked with debris, but the side walls do not appear to have been checked for a door.
RCAHMS 1975, visited 1966.
As described.
Visited by OS (W D J) 17 November 1969.
Surveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (D W R) 26 Auugust 1971.
Field Visit (May 1966)
NM 823 259. This dun stands on a low rocky promontory which juts into the sea 455 m W of Callanach (No. 320). Roughly D-shaped on plan (Fig. 73, plan), it measures 24'4 m from N to S by 19.8 m transversely within a massive wall which varies in thickness from 2' 1 m on the SSE to 4'0 m on either side of the entrance on the ENE. To provide a firm foundation for the wall the builders packed a number of underlying crevices with stones. The lower part of the wall incorporates large angular blocks of stone, but at a higher level smaller regularly-coursed stones are employed. Long stretches of both faces are visible, the best-preserved sector being on the E where the debris has been clearedback to reveal the outer face rising without any batter to a height of I' 5 m. By contrast the inner face is not more than 0'75 m high, but the lowest courses are at present hidden under the spread of fallen material that covers much of the interior. In places the rubble core of the wall stands as much as 1·8 m above the level of the interior.
An unusual feature of the wall, but one which has been recorded in three instances in Kintyre (Inventory of Argyll, i, 16), is the presence of an internal revetment, forming, as it were, a second outer face within the thickness of the wall. This feature is visible for a distance of only 2 m on the SSW, but may have been continuous.
The entrance, on the ENE, is 1.5 m wide. The passage itself is largely choked with debris, but the side-walls do not appear to have been checked for a door.
RCAHMS 1975, visited May 1966.
Measured Survey (1966)
Surveyed with alidade and plane-table at 1mm:1ft. Redrawn in ink and published at the reduced scale of 1:1000 (RCAHMS 1975, fig. 73).
