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MHG4754 - Broch - Dun Hallin

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Type and Period (1)

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Full Description

Dun Hallin, NG25NE0001

Brochs are round, tower-like houses, their monumental size intended to display the wealth and status of the agricultural communities who lived in them. The large, square blocks, neatly laid in horizontal courses, visible in the outer face of Dun Hallin, are characteristic of the quality of the stonework found in many brochs in northern and western Scotland. (57)
This broch is located in the middle of the Waternish peninsula, with extensive views over the sea lochs on either side. Today it is situated in bleak moorland, but is surrounded by shieling huts and enclosures, which show that the immediate area remained of agricultural importance until the beginning of the twentieth century. (53)
The broch is well-preserved and the circular form of the interior living space is clearly visible. The narrow entrance passage is still recognisable, as are the cells, possibly guard rooms, on either side. The lower steps of a stair, probably leading to an upper floor, can be seen within the thickness of the drystone wall. (55)
Armit, I., 1997. Celtic Scotland. Edinburgh: Batsford.
Ritchie, G., and Harman, M., 1996. Exploring Scotland’s Heritage. Argyll and the Western Isles.
Edinburgh: HMSO, 131, No. 62.
RCAHMS. 1928. The Outer Hebrides, Skye and the Small Isles. Edinburgh: HMSO, 158-9, No. 509.
[photo. should stress stonework?]
Information from SCRAN Project, March, 2000


NG25NE 1.01 2566 5927.

(NG 2566 5927) Dun Hallin (NR)
OS 6"map, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1904)

Dun Hallin, a broch, occupies the SE end of a rocky plateau around the edge of which are traces of a wall.
The broch has an internal diameter of 36' with walling from 9ft 9ins to 11ft wide and up to 12ft 6ins high on the N and W. The entrance on the SE is ruined but on either side an oval cell is visible. A gallery can be traced on the SW.
RCAHMS 1928; A Graham 1949.

Dun Hallin, a broch as described above.
Visited by OS (ASP) 3 May 1961.

Dun Hallin occupies the SE corner of a roughly triangular flat-topped rocky outcrop overlooking Hallin and some 800m from the cross-roads to Geary; apart from the natural protection afforded by the rock stack the broch is additionally defended by a wall that runs round the perimeter of the stack enclosing an area about 40m from N to S and 50m transversely. No inner facing-stones of this outer work are visible, for the interior appears to have been cultivated, but, on the NW flank, stretches of the outer face still survive below the summit of the rock and this suggests that the wall was originally about 3.3m in thickness. The broch has been constructed of large blocks of stone, the outer wall rising with a distinct batter to a height of 3.4m. Circular on plan the broch measures about 10.8m internally with the entrance passage on the SE being too choked with debris to permit further description. Within the thickness of the wall on either side of the entrance there is a small oval cell. The NE cell is more fully exposed than that on the SW and measures 3m in length by 1.4m in breadth with its walls still standing to a height of 1.75m. Further dilapidation of the SW cell appears to have taken place since the site was recorded by the Commission in 1921, but the corbel stones of the W end of the cell are still visible, confirming a length of about 2.7m; the cell appears to be about 1.2m broad. In neither case can the entrance to the cell be detected. Within the thickness of the broch wall on the SW quadrant part of an intra-mural gallery can be seen; the entrance from the inner court measuring about 1m in width and the first part of the gallery being about 1.2m broad, the visible portion of the gallery terminating in what may be a flight of steps.
Visited by RCAHMS (JNGR) 4 November 1990.

This site was included in Mackie's 2007 'The Roundhouses, Brochs and Wheelhouses of Atlantic Scotland c.700 BC - AD 500: Architecture and material culture'. See link below to HES Canmore record which includes the chapter on this site. <1>

This site was included in the Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland online database. See link below for site entry. <2>

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Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NG 2564 5929 (70m by 70m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NG25NE
Geographical Area	SKYE AND LOCHALSH
Civil Parish	DUIRINISH

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