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MHG144 - Dun - Caisteal Breac, Ardnamurchan

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Caisteal Breac (NR) (Site of)
OS 6"map, Argyllshire, 2nd ed., (1900)

Supposed site of an old castle built by a band of free-booters. The remains can be faintly traced on the ground. The name signifies 'The Speckled Castle'.
Name Book 1872. <1>

Caisteal Breac, a dun situated on a knoll with an extensive view. It is sub-circular on plan, measuring about 14.0m from E to W by 11.0m within a tumbled wall. The base course of the outer face can be seen intermittently except in the NE, and that of the inner face is occasionally visible, giving a wall thickness of 2.2m. The entrance is not evident.
About 1960 Mr J S Thompson (now deceased) excavated a trench through the wall in the SE arc and across thee interior, but no finds were reported. Visited by OS (R L) 2 June 1970.

(NM 6127 6153) Caisteal Breac (NAT) Dun (NR)
OS 1:10,000 map, (1973)

Surveyed at 1:10,000.
Visited by OS (A A) 4 July 1973.

Dun, Caisteal Breac: This dun is situated at a height of approximately 90m OD on the rocky boss that crowns the summit of a hill about 500m NE of Glenborrodale village. The ground falls away steeply on all sides except the N, where there is a more gradual descent to an area of broken moorland.
The dun is an irregular oval on plan and measures about 122m by 11.5m internally. Its wall is now reduced to a bank of debris, not more than 0.6m high, in which several stretches of outer and inner face can be seen in situ, ranging from 1.8m to 2.7m on the N, where both faces have been preserved, and probably exceeding 4m on the NE and S. The position of the entrance is probably indicated by a gap, 1.8m wide, on the NNW.
RCAHMS 1980, visited 1972 <2>

This dun lies on a natural hillock overlooking Glen Borrodale. It lies well outside the present SSSI boundary.
J Wordsworth, SSSIs, Scottish Natural Heritage, 1993

This site was visited by WCAS during a 2011 DBA and walkover survey on Glenborrodale Estate in advance of a woodland creation scheme. It was located on a prominent knoll and under grass, bracken and heather. The rubble remains of the dun had two later structures in the interior. The dun, with possible SE entrance, measured 18m northwest to southeast by 17m over walls spread to 2.2m and surviving up to 2.5m high. A sub-circular drystone shieling was located in S side of the dun and constructed out of dun rubble. It measured 4.5m northwest to southeast by 4m over walls 0.7m wide and standing up to 0.8m high. There was also a sub-circular drystone twinning pen located in the northwest side of the dun. It measured 1.5m east to west by 1m over walls 0.5m wide and 0.6m high. <3>

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Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NM 6128 6155 (17m by 18m) (3 map features)
Map sheet	NM66SW
Civil Parish	ARDNAMURCHAN
Geographical Area	LOCHABER

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