Site type SETTLEMENT
Canmore ID 25844
Site Number NN86SE 3
NGR NN 8631 6010
Council PERTH AND KINROSS
Parish BLAIR ATHOLL
Former Region TAYSIDE
Former District PERTH AND KINROSS
Former County PERTHSHIRE

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Archaeological Notes

NN86SE 3 8631 6010.

(NN 863 601) Dun (NR)
OS 1" map, (1956) sheet No. 48.

One of the better preserved examples of the duns of NW Perthshire. It measures about 56' in diameter within a 10' thick wall which still retains several considerable stretches of the lower course of the faces.
W J Watson 1915; R W Feachem 1963.

A homestead, generally as described by Feachem (1963) except that the entrance, with door checks is now exposed in the SW, where the wall is 3.5m thick. The break in the wall shown on Watson's plan is later; the mound near the centre is debris.
Visited by OS (R D) 8 April 1968.

The remains constitute those of a homestead rather than a dun. The site was partially cleared in 1974 by Mrs Stewart and the Forestry Commission, and is being excavated during 1975.
Near circular on plan, the remains measure 24.0m WSW-ENE by 22.7m overall, with the outer wall face preserved for much of the circumferance. The spread of debris suggests the wall thickness of c. 3.0m, but it increases to 3.8m at the entrance in the WSW. The entrance passage is paved and equipped with an unusual door jamb arrangement of three upright slabs, one on the N side and two on the S side. Mrs Stewart (information from M E C Stewart to OS) suggests that it was lintelled. The little excavation yet attempted suggests the interior was not wholly level, and may have been stepped. The gap shown on Watson's plan in the SE is a mutilation.
Surveyed at 1:10,000.
Visited by OS (A A) 2 April 1975.

Armit, I (1998i) Scotland's hidden history, Stroud, Gloucestershire
Page(s): 90-1 Held at RCAHMS E.2.1.ARM

Feachem, R (1963b) A guide to prehistoric Scotland, London
Page(s): 183 Held at RCAHMS E.2.FEA

Stewart, M E C (1976b) 'Pitlochry, Queen's View, Allearn Forest, Loch Tummel, homestead', Discovery Excav Scot
Page(s): 47-8