Cairn Of Dunn
Broch (Iron Age)(Possible)
Site Name Cairn Of Dunn
Classification Broch (Iron Age)(Possible)
Canmore ID 8756
Site Number ND25NW 8
NGR ND 2065 5605
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/8756
- Council Highland
- Parish Watten
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Caithness
- Former County Caithness
ND25NW 8 2065 5605.
(NR 2065 5605) Cairn of Dunn (NR) (site of)
OS 1:10,000 map, (1975)
This is a round, stony mound said by the RCAHMS (1911) to be a probable broch. It has a diameter of about 100ft and a height of about 3ft. No structure is visible through the much-ploughed surface, which is strewn with fragments of slaty stone (RCAHMS 1911).
The name 'Cairn of Dunn' derives from a cairn of stones which stood on the mound until shortly before 1871.
Name Book 1871.
Apart from a scatter of small stones at the site indicated, no trace of the Cairn of Dunn could be found. Whether or not this was a cairn or broch could not be ascertained from ground inspection. The site falls on top of a slight ridge in an arable field, where a distinct rise in the ground is evident.
Revised at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (R D) 27 October 1965.
This site falls within a distinctive, turf-covered mound 40.0m in diameter and 1.0m high. The mound is ploughed-out and featureless, but suggests the remains of a broch or cairn.
Surveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (J M) 5 March 1982.
Publication Account (2007)
ND25 5 CAIRN OF DUNN ND/2065 5605
Possible broch in Watten, Caithness, consisting of a stony mound in cultivated land, now ploughed out and almost invisible; it is about 30.5m (100ft) in diameter. There is nothing now to indicate what structure stood here.
Sources: 1. NMRS site no. ND 25 NW 8: 2. RCAHMS 1911b, 127, no. 462.
E W MacKie 2007