Monument record MHG4848 - Dun Neill

NG24SE 5 2814 4075.

(NG 2814 4075) Dun Neill (NAT) Dun (NR) (remains of)
OS 6"map, (1969)

Dun Neill, a dun overlying the scant remains of a fort on a cliff girt coastal rock.
The dun, oval on plan, measures 24.0m ENE-WSW by about 12.0m overall, with the wall 2.8m thick at the E end where parts of both the inner and outer wall faces can be seen. Four base stones of the outer face survive in the W and others are visible intermittently along the edge of the cliff in the S with the wall core suggesting a similar wall thickness for most of the extent. In the N the wall is a confused turf-covered spread of stones which have encroached well into the interior of the dun. A well-defined straight wall face visible intermittently within the core of the wall in the W may be a stabilizing wall, or possibly part of a later structure. The entrance passage in the NE, 1.4m wide, is visible at its outer end only, with the base course of the outer wall face continuing across it forming a level threshold. The access route to the entrace up a gap in the crag to the N shows signs of lateral revettment, and one step of a stair remains in situ. Within the dun is a turf-covered circular structure, 3.0m internal diameter, with an ill-defined entrance in the E it is uncertain whether it is built against the inner face of the dun wall or overlies it, and is of uncertain period or purpose.
Outside the dun in the W, a heavily robbed wall encloses the remainder of the summit of the rock. No wall faces survive and its thickness cannot be ascertained. Traces of what is probably the same wall are visible outside the dun in the E and there is little doubt that this represents the remains of an earlier fort measuring about 43.0m ENE-WSW by c.12.0m, transversely, robbed to build the dun.
RCAHMS 1928; Visited by OS (A A) 13 October 1971.