Monument record MHG7988 - Dun Alascaig

Summary

No summary available.

Location

Grid reference Centred NH 6569 8682 (70m by 70m) (Buffered by site type)
Map sheet NH68NE
Geographical Area ROSS AND CROMARTY
Old County ROSS-SHIRE
Civil Parish EDDERTON

Map

Type and Period (1)

Full Description

NH68NE 11 6569 8682.
Dun Alascaig (NR) OS 6" map, Ross-shire, 2nd ed., (1907)

Dun-faire-Cosgaidh (NR) (Site of) OS 6" map, Ross-shire, 1st ed., (1875)

On rising ground to S of Dornoch Firth are remains of a broch, variously spelt as Dun Alisaig, Aliscaig, Alascaig or Alaisgaig (Watson 1904) now almost totally destroyed. All that survives are about twenty earthfast boulders, a heap of stones and a triangular lintel stone 5' long (Young 1964).
In 1760 broch measured 30' internally, with walls 12.5' thick at base and battered externally, surviving to 15' in height. The entrance, c3' wide, had a triangular lintel stone. On each side was a chamber set back 8.5' from entrance and within a wall was a mural passage with stair (Kemp 1887). Maitland in 1757 noted three galleries. Cordiner giving a ground plan in 1776 records four oval-ended chambers. The broch was destroyed about 1818 (Watson 1904).
W Maitland 1757; C Cordiner 1776; D W Kemp 1887; W J Watson 1904; A Young 1964.

The overgrown remains of a broch known locally as Dun Alascaig. A single course of outer face survives almost intact around N and W arcs and intermittently elsewhere, giving an overall diameter of 17.3m. The triangular lintel stone is within E arc but it is probably not in situ and entrance is no longer evident. All other details are destroyed or masked by tumble.
Resurveyed at 1/2500 (OS {WDJ})
Visited by OS (W D J) 3 May 1963 and (A A) 28 October 1969.

'Little now survives of this broch, which was still standing to a height of 4.5m in the 18th century' RCAHMS 1979

This has been a desk assessment area.
J Wordsworth, SSSIs, Scottish Natural Heritage, 1993

Sources/Archives (6)

  • --- Text/Publication/Volume: Cordiner, C. 1788. Remarkable Ruins, and Romantic Prospects, of North Britain. 118; plan.
  • --- Text/Publication/Volume: Maitland, W. 1757. The history and antiquities of Scotland, from the earliest account of time to the death of James the First, anno 1437. Vol. 1, 145.
  • --- Text/Publication/Volume: Kemp, D W (ed.). 1887. Tours in Scotland 1747, 1750, 1760. plan.
  • --- Text/Report: RCAHMS. 1979. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. The archaeological sites and monuments of Easter Ross, Ross and Cromarty District, Highland Region. . 23, No. 185.
  • --- Text/Publication/Volume: Watson, W J. 1904. Place names of Ross and Cromarty. 31.
  • --- Text/Publication/Article: Young, A. 1964. 'Brochs and duns', Proc Soc Antiq Scot Vol. 95 1961-2, p.171-98. Proc Soc Antiq Scot. 171-98. 186, No. 32.

Finds (0)

Protected Status/Designation

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Events/Activities (1)

Record last edited

Jan 28 2008 12:00AM

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