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MHG6499 - Fort - Dun Beag

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Full Description

NG46NE 3 4607 6827.

(NG 4607 6827) Dun Beag (NR)
OS 6" map, Ise of Skye, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1903)

Dun Beag has been encirculed by a stone wall and measures c. 120' E-W x c. 50' N-S. The entrance approach is along a terrace and through the E end by a well-defined passage, 18' long and 5' broad, which is enflanked on the S side some 4' outwards by a bank, 6' high on the outer face, giving directly on to the steep slope of the hill. Traces of a wall or parapet bounding the terrace on the outer face can still be identified, and from the inner side of the terrace the base of the wall which has enclosed the summit is still visible. This wall shows in places 3 - 4 building courses composed of large blocks of stone.
In the interior of the dun towards the NW lies a hut circle 20' in diameter, and apparently there is a second and larger hut to the E of it which shows a diameter of some 28', and which has the appearance of having been dug out on its S arc. At the W end, c. 15' below the summit and towards the S side, occurs a platform 6' - 8' wide, probably to a limited extent artificial. Below it, towards its N end, a kerb of stones indicates an outer wall at this part. Below this the ridge has been cut across so as to form a deep ditch 25' wide, the bottom of which lies 20' below the platform and 7' below the crest of the counterscarp. Some 20' from the N end of the ditch, a part has been left unexcavated to permit of an entrance on to the terrace on the N flank. Outside the ditch to the N of the entrance is a damp hollow with rushes growing in it, which may have been a well.
RCAHMS 1928, visited 1914

Dun Beag, a fort, is as described above; in poor condition.
Visited by OS (A S P) 25 April 1961.

Dun Beag: a fort with outworks generally as described by RCAHMS.
It measures internally c. 37.0m E-W by 15.0m with the wall, although no inner face can be seen except at the entrance in the E, appearing to average c. 4.5m thick expanding to 5.7m at the entrance which is 1.4m wide. In the S, the wall has almost all completely slipped over the crag. Immediately outside the entrance, the E side of the approach route has been revetted. In the W extremity of the interior is a denuded circular stone-walled hut measuring 6.5m in diameter within a wall about 1.5m thick. One or two inner and outer facing stones show through the turf. An earthfast boulder in the E probably flanks the N side of the entrance. Without excavation, it cannot be determined if the hut is comtemporary with the fort or later. A semi-circular scarp to the E of the hut may be partly artificial, but does not appear to be part of another hut as suggested by RCAHMS.
The outer face of a wall to the N of the fort can be seen intermittently running W - E where it ends near an approach route up the natural slope from the N. There is a short stretch of inner face visible towards the W end. There are traces of what may be a continuation of this wall along the SE flank of the hill. The outer face of a wall is also visible fronting the terrace between the fort wall and the ditch and rampart in the W.
The hollow thought by the RCAHMS to be a well is more likely to be due to mutilation which seems to have destroyed part of the counterscarp at this point.
Enlargement at 1:1250.
Visited OS (I S S) 6 October 1971

Condition as described.
Visited by R Miket 20 March 1988.

This site was included in the Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland online database. See link below for site entry. <1>

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Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NG 4612 6830 (100m by 100m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NG46NE
Geographical Area	SKYE AND LOCHALSH
Civil Parish	KILMUIR

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