LesHamilton

Visited: september 6, 2015

Dun View is well named: it certainly has a great view over Dun Maraig in Poll Loch na h-Ealaidh bay.

Rated as a possible dun by Canmore, it sits atop a 30 metre knoll just back from the north shore of the bay, above Cuidrach House.

It is a severly ruined structure with few if any foundation blocks remaining in place. It can be accessed in 10 minutes from the road leading to Cuidrach farm.

Visited: September 7, 2015

Dùn Sgalar stands hidden away on the northwest shoulder of the hill immediately west of Dùn a’Cheitechin. Starting at Skeabost cemetery, where there is parking, cross the field, head past the impressive bastion of Dùn A’Cheitechin, cross into the next field, and ascend the gently rising hill beyond. Its summit is labelled “Dùn Sgalar” on the OS map, but that’s not where you will find the dun.

You have to carry on about 250 metres to the northwest, along a level but narrowing shoulder. Dùn Sgalar stands on the very tip, overlooking the waters of Loch Snizort.

Dùn Sgalair is a compact little fort, guarded by steep drops all around. Little structure is immediately visible. In places, some large stones of the foundation course can be seen but in the main, the only other significant structure is a grassy bank surrounding the fort (no doubt hiding more remains of walling courses).

Visited: September 9, 2015

This promontory at Kilmore once bore an Iron Age fort, Dun Faich. Canmore tells us that an outer face of walling over a metre tall still stands on the landward side, but by the time I gained the fence below the summit, I had lost all inclination to investigate.

Access to the dun was via Kilmore churchyard, which extends a long distance towards the sea, and thence over its rear wall on to a rough path that completes the journey to the rocky shore. Working round to Dun Faich was easy: the difficult part was the ascent of the steep vegetated slopes leading to the dun. What, from a distance, looked easy, proved to be a painful and drawn out battle against thick bracken, laced with abundant concealed thorny brambles. Certainly not a route to recommend in late summer. Do it in spring. After reaching the fence below the summit, I retreated back to the road along the driveway of a large house.

The only saving grace of the adventure was the superb views across the Sound of Sleat towards the mountains of Knoydart. On a very warm day, I was wearing shorts, and bore the scars of battle for a fortnight thereafter!

Visited: September 6, 2015

Standing at the precipitous southern end of a heathery ridge that rises gently from just opposite the entranceway to Lyndale Lodge on the A850 between Skeabost and Edinbane, Dun Creagan Soillier has little of the character of the nearby Dun Suladale.

Nevertheless, it is worth a visit, and still exhibits stretches of external walling courses on the north and west. There is nothing of note to see in the interior, which is heavily vegetated.

Access to this Dun is by either of two gates (about 100 metres apart), on the opposite side of the A850 from the entrance to Lyndale Lodge. The easternmost gate provides the less boggy ground and, as its access path is disused and overgrown, provides a small off-road parking space. To avoid thick gorse that blocks a direct line up the ridge, head through the patch of woodland to the right, then immediately make for the highest ground, a low heather-clad hillock surmounted by a powerline pole. Continue uphill, on short, springy heather, and the dun is on the summit of the second rise, about 200 metres ahead.

Visited: September 9, 2015

Situated on a small promontory at Ardvasar, Dun Acardinon has to be visited by a somewhat circuitous route, as a direct assault along the coast is difficult (large rocks, cliffs etc.). Parking is available adjacent to the bus stop (yellow marker ‘B’), from where you must walk on 100 metres to a road on the left labelled ‘Knoydart’. Follow this short road to its end where a gravel path leads to a gate with a ‘Please Shut Gate’ notice on it (blue marker ‘G’).
Pass through the gate into rough pasture and either follow the clifftop or cut across directly to the dun (red marker ‘D’).

When I visited, in September, Dun Acardinon was so thickly clad in a mixture of hazel scrub and head-high bracken that I could not fight my way on to its summit; and if I had, I doubt I would have seen anything of interest.

The shore surrounding the fort is easily reached down a gentle grassy slope, and the best views are obtained from there. The fort is well defended by sheer cliffs, and as you walk around it, the huge cleft that almost splits the headland in half is apparent.
If you look hard, there is ample evidence of walling blocks, but again, they were well hidden behind a veil of brambles, bracken and other vegetation.

Visited: September 6, 2015

Dun Adhamh is a small, unremarkable fort perched on an oval, flat-topped eminence, southeast of the Kingsburgh junction on the main road between Portree and Uig. Although it lies just under 600 metres from this road, as the crow flies, you will have to walk the best part of two kilometres to visit it, as the nearest spot where a vehicle can be parked is opposite the Kingsburgh junction (see Creag nam Meann for details).

Dun Adhamh sits out of view as you walk the kilometre or so south along the Old Road to the point where it merges once more with the Main Road. There is one place where the dun can briefly be seen up a shallow valley to the left, but as it still sits below the skyline, it is hard to identify. Once you reach the end of the section of Old Road, head generally northeast until you encounter a broad heathery ridge with steep rocky crags at its east. Make your way on to the ridge, and you will see Dun Adhamh beyond, on the far side of a 3-metre deer fence. Turn right at the fence, and walk to the corner of this enclosure, where there is a gate that provides access.

Dun Adhamh is now easily approached, and large blocks—the remains of a stone wall that used to surround the fort—are passed on the ascent to its thickly vegetated summit.

Visited: September 11, 2015

There are two cairns near the standing stones at Kensaleyre. The southern cairn stands in the same field as the Eyre Standing Stones, and cannot be missed. At the time of my visit, it supported a small flock of sheep. Canmore attributes it a height of 1.8 metres and width of 21 metres.

From the standing stones, the shapely northern cairn, 2 metres tall by 18 metres wide, can be seen 350 metres to the northwest, just a few metres in from the shoreline. Access is easiest along the shingle at the edge of Loch Snizort Beag, the nearby field gate being conveniently wide open at the time of my visit. But the shapeliness of this cairn is an illusion: some time in years gone by the eastern flank of the cairn was extensively excavated and a house (now gone) partially inserted into it.

Visited: September 8, 2015

Dun Raisaburgh, a rather ruinous broch, stands near the south of a 15 metre high rocky ridge a short distance due south of the house at Raisaburgh, near the southwest shore of Loch Mealt. From the Kilt Rock car park, a tarred road leads right round to Raisaburgh, and it’s then just a matter of skirting the outbuildings on the left and working your way up to the broch. The near slope of the ridge is quite steep, and it is probably wise to skirt round to the south and ascend from there.

The eastern side of Dun Raisaburgh is mainly a tumble of fallen stones, but elsewhere around the periphery, courses of the the outer wall face can still be seen. Two well constructed parallel faces cutting through the broch wall on the southeast may well be remnants of the entrance passage. The inner foundation courses of the broch are largely submerged in rubble, except for a short section in the north, which stands six courses tall.

Like so many of the Skye brochs, Dun Raisaburgh is a terriffic vantage point. On a fine day, the views across Loch Mealt, and towards the northwest highlands on the mainland, are breathtaking.