The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

Dun Ela

Stone Fort / Dun

Fieldnotes

Visited: September 9, 2015

I am mystified reading Carl's fieldnotes: I cannot imagine an easier site to visit. Perhaps he mistook where he was. There are neither trees nor cliffs to trouble the visitor.

From the coastal car park (at NG646057) about 800 metres past Ostaig House, simply descend to the beach and follow the coastline (a sandy beach in the main) northwards for about 400 metres. Dun Ela is obvious as a small, rugged headland from the moment you step out of your vehicle. If the stream proves an obstacle, walk up the road past the bridge before descending to the beach.

The 8 metre tall dun, which stands right on the shore about 400 metres SSW of Ostaig House, is a flat-topped rock, broadest nearest the sea where the actual dun was located, and which tapers into a narrow ridge towards the shore. On my visit it was a very low tide, and the dun was surrounded by seaweed covered shingle. Clearly, at high tide, it is surrounded by the sea.

As to the site of the dun, little can be said because it is thickly clothed in vegetation, including a number of semi-mature trees: no significant detail can be discerned. But it would clearly have been an ideal defensive location, surrounded by cliffs on all sides and with only the narrow neck of the ridge to defend.
LesHamilton Posted by LesHamilton
13th September 2015ce
Edited 16th September 2015ce

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