Monument record MHG5181 - Dun Kearstach

NG51NE 3 5964 1745.

(NG 5964 1745) Dun Kearstach (NR)
OS 6"map, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1903)

Dun Kearstach, a galleried dun, oval on plan, measuring 67ft in length and 43ft in breadth, has been surrounded by a fine stone wall, varying from 21ft thick at the SE end to 13ft on the N flank, but this is almost levelled to the ground, the debris of the wall covering the slopes on the flanks for a distance of nearly 40ft. Short sections of the lower courses of the outer face of the building are visible round the NE arc and on the SW, but in no place are they more than 1ft 6ins in height. The entrance, very slightly defined, has been through the W end, but it is too dilapidated for measurement. For a distance of about 38ft in the W end of the N wall the remains of a narrow chamber can be traced. The outer wall of this gallery is broken down, but the inner wall, 4ft thick, still reaches a height of 2ft 3ins in places. Part of the W jamb of the doorway of this chamber are still in position some 43ft from the entrance to the dun, and some 21ft further E there are traces of another opening, seemingly to a second gallery in the NE arc, while indications of a third are visible along the S flank.
Not a broch, but embodies features which appear in broch
architecture (A Graham 1949).
RCAHMS 1928; A Graham 1949.

Dun Kearstach: a galleried dun as described by RCAHMS and in ruinous condition. Some 20m W of the entrance across the narrow approach to the fort there are faint indications of a possible outwork comprising a low bank with outer ditch.
Visited by OS (A C) 18 April 1961.

The site was visited in 12/99 and further collapse of the existing features had taken place.
S.A.Birch.
See assoc. docs. File.

J Aitken : 22/02/01.