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MHG5146 - Dun Gerashader

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Type and Period (1)

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Full Description

NG44NE 3 4892 4527.

(NG 4892 4527). Dun Gerashader (NR)
OS 6"map, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1904)

Dun Dornaigil, NC44NE0003

Brochs are round, tower-like houses, their monumental size intended to display the wealth and status of the agricultural communities who lived in them. They were occupied in the later Iron Age and occur frequently in the north and west of Scotland. (41)

Information from SCRAN Project. March, 2000

...the ruins of Dun Gerashader (Name Book 1877), once a fort of great strength. The enceinte, oval in shape, measures internally 168ft NNW-SSE, and 100ft at its widest from ENE-WSW, and has been surrounded by a well-built stone wall. This wall has been erected along the edge of the ridge on the E and W flanks and round the N end, but at the S end of the enclosure it is carried transversely across the ridge, about its highest point and near the middle of its length, as a massive structure, measuring 14 ft thick and rising about 15ft above the level of the enceinte. The mass of tumbled stones at the base of the inner side of this wall is 10ft wide and 9ft high, and above this the face exhibits fine drystone building. Much of the walling is almost obliterated, but at several places the foundations can be traced. Outside the S wall are the remains of 3 lines of obstructions, in rows of large boulders up to 5ft in length, set on edge across the ridge. Immediately behind the inner line at its SW angle is an enclosure 28ft in length and 13ft in breadth. There has also been a small oval structure 10ft long by 7ft broad on the inside of the second wall near its E end.
The entrance to the dun is near the middle of the E flank, where the foundations of a gateway 8ft 6ins wide are to be seen. The approach is difficult as this part of the ridge is rocky but a narrow ledge towards the S may have formed the roadway. Between the entrance and the S end of the enceinte there has been an opening, the N jamb remaining in position.

Within the fort are the foundations of a number of small stone-walled structures, the majority of them now difficult to trace and as to their origin and purpose nothing definite can be said. Against the NE side are the foundations of a semicircular enclosure about 34ft in diameter internally, with a wall 3ft 6ins thick, and along the W wall are indications of a somewhat similar building.
RCAHMS 1928; Name Book 1877.

Dun Gerashader, a fort correctly described by RCAHMS. There is evidence of an entrance towards the south end of the west side and a narrow track leads down the slopes southwards from this point. Visited by OS (A S P) 26 April 1961.

The site was visited in April 2015 by S Wood and I Ralston as part of a general survey of forts on Skye as part of the fieldwork for the former’s PhD research: Described by the RCAHMS (1928) as ‘a fort of great strength’, this site actually represents the remains of two different forts. The later fort, as identified and planned by RCAHMS survives as a massive stone wall up to six courses high, with an entrance in the east. A rectangular enclosure noted to the southwest by RCAHMS is not an enclosure but the inner and outer face of a rampart with an entrance through it. The facing stones of the entrance likely influenced the previous misidentification of this feature as they superficially represent the shorter east side of a rectangular enclosure. This rampart continues to the east and includes many very large stones. Facing stones of this rampart continue along the west and east sides of the hill to the north and appear to be overlain by the large well-built wall of the later fort. This is almost certainly an earlier fort with an entrance to the south, with this entrance blocked by the surviving wall of the later fort. The two lines of boulders identified by RCAHMS may be ramparts contemporary with the earlier fort as they appear to contain similarly sized large stones. Alternatively, they may represent reuse of the boulders from the earlier fort to add extra lines of defence or create a visually intimidating barrier on the more accessible south side of the knoll. <1>

Aspects of the site are discussed by S Wood in his PhD dissertation. <2>

This site was included in the Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland online database. See link below for site entry. <3>

GIS spatial data was amended 2018 based on OS Master Map. <4>

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Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NG 4893 4525 (92m by 147m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NG44NE
Geographical Area	SKYE AND LOCHALSH
Civil Parish	PORTREE

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