
The ruins of Dun Sleadale, viewed from above, with the splendid Preshal Mòr in the background.
The ruins of Dun Sleadale, viewed from above, with the splendid Preshal Mòr in the background.
Impressive walling at Dun Sleadale.
External walling courses can be seen round most of the circumference of this broch. In this view, the entrance passage is prominent.
The entrance passage accesses a curious approx circular cell within the enclosure... apparently a shieling.
The best section of surviving stone work... looking toward Preshal More.
An intra-mural chamber of some description...
Looking north. Talisker lies unseen beyond and below...
Not altogether successfully into the sun toward Preshal Beg... I think.
The entrance. I assume that’s an original fallen passage lintel?
Looking approx north-east... Preshal More is the wondrous mini mountain.
A threatening sky above Dun Sleadale...
Dun Sleadale.
Dun Sleadale.
Some of the impressive external walling at Dun Sleadale.
A Panoramic View over Dun Sleadale.
A Gallery at Dun Sleadale.
Visited: September 3, 2013
It’s perhaps not surprising that this is the first fieldnote concerning Dùn Sleadale to appear on TMA. You cannot see this broch from any road. It cannot be accessed by a gentle walk. It is located on a plateau flanked by steep hillsides at an elevation of 136 metres, and the ascent starts from sea-level.
Moreover, there is no clear path to the broch. The starting point for a visit to Dùn Sleadale is the small car park used by walkers heading for Talisker Bay. But about 200 metres into this walk, immediately after the path crosses the Sleadale Burn, a rusted gate provides access to the field on the left.
From here the route is an ascending traverse, firstly through grass tussocks and bracken, then on shorter sheep-grazed grass on the higher slopes. Continue for about half a kilometre until you encounter a stream flowing downhill to join the the Sleadale Burn, and follow this to the plateau.
Still, Dùn Sleadale is hidden from view but, carrying on in the same direction for another 200 or so metres, to the right of a prominent outcrop that rises ahead, the broch suddenly springs into view.
This broch is well worth the effort of visiting, as it retains several courses of walling round almost its entire external circumference, with an entranceway on the east. Almost no internal structure remains alas, as the interior—including the entrance—is buried beneath a wasteland of collapsed masonry. A lichen-encrusted ash tree struggles to survive within its shelter. Only on the southern face of the broch is there slight evidence of a gallery, which is for most of its length buried under tonnes of rubble.
You can learn more about this broch at Canmore.