Monument record MHG11106 - Broch, Dun Viden

NC 7265 5188) Dun Viden (NAT) Broch (NR) OS 6"map, (1964)

The remains of a broch (RCAHMS 1911; PSAS 1958; OS {JLD}) or dun (Young 1964), now a tumbled mass of stones, 1.5m high, within which wall faces, intermittently visible, give an internal diameter of about 9.5m and a wall thickness of 4.8m. The entrance 0.3m high and 1.1m wide is clearly defined in SE. Steep slopes defend site on W but there are outworks on other three sides - remains of a rampart on N & S, and a rampart, ditch and outer stony bank on east. A barbed and socketed iron arrow-head, found outside the broch, was donated to the NMAS by Miss A S Henshall in 1955-6. (Acc. No. GA 1265). There is also a flint from the site in the museum (Acc. No. AB 2655). Miss Young's reasons for classing this site as a dun are inferior stonework and small outer courtyard with stone walling supplementing the natural rock. She admits that it could be classed as a late broch. RCAHMS 1911, visited 1909; Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1958; A Young 1964; Visited by OS (J L D) 6 May 1960.

Dun Viden: a broch and outworks on an old river terrace. Generally as described except that the broch wall varies in thickness from 4.2m minimum to 5.3m max. The approach to the broch entrance is trenched with remains of a flanking wall on the north-east side. A later footing occupies SW end of the ditch.
Revised at 1:10,000. Visited by OS (J M) 8 December 1978.