Dun Sleadale Part 2

Dun Sleadale is unlike other brochs we have visited.  Most of the brochs we have seen either have a clear view of the sea or are in line of sight of other brochs which do have views of the sea.  Dun Sleadale is a mere 1.2 km from the sea but the sea is not visible at all and there is no clear line of sight to the nearest brochs (as shown on modern OS maps) .  On the other hand the broch is not visible from the sea either which, in itself, is a useful defence from any sea invasion.

For plan and background information see
Dun Sleadale - part 1 

First things first - a bite to eat and drink before scrambling over the broch

Location of Dun Sleadale and other nearby brochs/duns

The trek up to the site was interesting after several days of wet weather – a very, very muddy stretch between gorse bushes, followed by a rather boggy stretch, followed by a steep trackless climb and the broch doesn’t come into view until the last minute. 

Access to the broch was possibly never easy as the original entrance is on a steep and craggy slope.   

 

Entrance as seen from lower down the slope

Today, it is rather easier to enter via the west – via the entrance to the later sheiling constructed inside the broch.

RCAHMS and Mackie (on Canmore) say the original entrance is on the east-north-east, Swanson says the entrance is on the east.  Our compasses say it is pretty well due East.

Entrance

Possible lintel from entrance - recumbent

Su expounds her theories on the orientation of broch entrances

The “fine scarcement” described by Mackie is not easy to identify but is probably most clearly seen just to the north of the western entrance, ie the entrance made by whoever constructed the sheiling.  The gallery described by Mackie and Swanson is clearly visible and other hollows within the walls indicate further stretches of gallery or a cell.

 

Lintels of gallery

Outside the broch, to the north there is a well defined trench, which looks man-made.  This is described by Swanson and shown on her plan as “quarry trench”.

 

Recycling stone seems to have been very popular in the post broch period - as well as two sheilings constructed inside the broch, there are also a few outside.

Having looked at the broch, we spent some time watching a couple of eagles across the valley and trying to decide – without binoculars – whether it was a golden or a sea eagle.  The one thing we all agreed on was that it was not a “tourist eagle”.  Final decision - white tailed!

 

Leaving the broch we made observed several circular shapes on the other side of the Sleadale Burn and we wondered whether these might be enclosures or hut circles.  A little later we saw three workmen clearly puzzling over another circular structure – this one did not appear to be prehistoric.

Gradually we made our various ways down.  Hoping to avoid the mud bath, some took the high road and still got muddy; some took the low road and had to climb a fence but we all got down without mishap and retired to the Old Inn to discuss our theories.  Su had re-produced plans of all the brochs we have visited – but all to same scale and all pointing north so we could compare the orientation of the entrances (evidence not very conclusive).  Steve T produced maps to illustrate his hypothesis that the entrances overlooked the likely broch territory.

References:


 Carol Swanson

Canmore

Discussion continues here dun-suladale-3

Dun Sleadale Part 1

Some background information on Dun Sleadale in prearation for our field visit on 28/2/17.

Photo by Su who visited Dun Sleadale exactly a year ago - hope we get some blue sky too! For more photos of Su's visit see her blog:

http://stayathome2010.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/wednesday-1230-pm-dun-sleadale-broch.html

 






The location of this broch is intriguing and quite different from others we have seen.  Quite a way from the coast and with no clear line of view to the coast nor, so far as I can see just now, to any other brochs.

The most recent field survey was by Euan Mackie in  2007 (see canmore: https://canmore.org.uk/event/587050)

He describes it as

“probably ground-galleried It stands in a particularly interesting situation, on a rocky knoll about 160m (550 ft) above sea level and up on a steep hillside about half a mile from cultivated land; the knoll itself rises from a level terrace…….” farmland is on the flat seaward end of Glen Oraid, a fine, isolated, V-shaped glaciated valley running down from high moorland to a curved sandy beach in a bay bounded at both ends by high cliffs. Thus the valley bottom, limited in area to about 0.25 square miles and containing the village of Talisker, is completely isolated by mountain and moor. The farmland is green and fertile, in striking contrast to the surrounding moor, and is formed of a thick deposit of alluvial soil which has presumably washed down from the surrounding land over many millennia. Marks of old rig-and-furrow cultivation are very clear near the sea when viewed from the moors above, and this suggests that the low ground was cultivated in Iron Age times also.

The broch overlooks this small stretch of cultivable land, and it is difficult to resist the conclusion that it was intimately connected with the Iron Age farmers who presumably used it. Moreover there are steep slopes and a difficult burn gully between the farmland and the broch which would have meant a journey of at least twenty minutes up from the fields below. This situation might suggest that – at this site at least – any danger was expected from the sea; as with many another Hebridean brochs a land attack sweeping down on to the farmland from the mountains would cut the villagers off from their refuge, assuming that they lived beside the fields. The broch itself is out of sight of the sea but a short extra climb of about 60m (200 ft) gives an extensive view of the western sea approaches; a lookout there could give ample warning of a raid.”

Plan from Swanson - see reference below

The elder trees shown on Carol Swanson's plan are now sadly withered and probably quite dead.

What we need to look for on our visit (from Euan Mackie on Canmore):

1. The entrance -on the east-north-east . 2 ft 10 in (86cm) wide at the exterior, which is unlintelled.  Several lintels are still in position further in and the door-frame is apparent
2.  A fine scarcement of the ledge-type is preserved in the 2-4 o'clock arc … (I can never work out what Mackie means when he refers to positions by the clock 2-4?? Is that NW to SE?)
3. Another stretch of gallery, or a cell with a few lintels in position, just clockwise of the main entrance at 7 o'clock; there are several courses of stonework exposed under the roof and in 1915 the outer face stood 8 ft (2.4m) high above the ground outside These lintels are much higher than those roofing the entrance and the gallery must technically be an upper one.

It is also worth looking at the excellent detailed description offered by Carol Swanson:

https://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/ handle/1842/19332

Entrance guard cells: why?

The views expressed here are my own, and not necessarily those of Joy or anyone else in the Broch-baggers group

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The Caithness Broch Project recently posted this question:

"Ground cells
 On the ground floor of some brochs we find little rooms built into the thick walls, dubbed ground cells they are found in various arrangements and sizes. Often kidney shaped with a corbelled ceiling and neat little niches built in the walls.
No one's really sure what they were used for, theories abound from grain store to dog kennel, prison cell to ice house???
Click through the photos and tell us what you think they may be used for."

That started me thinking about so-called 'guard cells' off the entrance passage of some brochs.   It occurred to me that if there was an attack, and everyone was dashing pell-mell into the broch, who bars the door? Seems to me that it could be difficult - narrow passage, the final stragglers coming in - the old, maybe the wounded. The enemy could be hard on their heels. Would make sense for the strongest / fittest to be able to step aside and wait till everyone else was in, then slam the door shut behind them. Easier, too, to cut down the vanguard of the attackers from the side if they got that far. The door would presumably be heavy and had to be halfway along the passage so it could be solidly wedged.

Canmore site-plan of Dun Fiadhair

That leads on to another question (as is the way with brochs!): there is a guard-cell in the entrance at Dun Fiadhair but not (I think) at Dun Colbost, Dun Boreraig, Dun Osdale, Dùn Beag or Dun Sleadale.  Why not?  Were they built earlier, before it was realised that a side-cell would be useful in the scenario above?

If we go back to the question of why were brochs built then (nailing my colours to the mast) I think 'it all depends'.

Dun Boreraig, looking across to the Coral Beaches

The ones we have already visited round Loch Dunvegan are within sight of each other - they would work very well as watchtowers, could signal to each that invaders were approaching, and the sight of them might intimidate sea-raiders and encourage them to look for an easier target. The Martello towers as you sail into Hoy on Orkney have that effect.  So there may not have been so many people dashing for safety, and they would have had plenty of warning from the watchers on the ramparts (which, again, brings in the question of height - a full-height broch like Dun Telve and Dun Troddan at Glenelg would hardly lend itself to wall-top access ... but one at half-height might?)  It may be there would be ample time to bar the door before the attackers reached the entrance.

the entrance at Dun Sleadale

Dun Sleadale near Talisker Beach is at a completely different sort of location - it's tucked away out of sight on high pasture.  It could easily have been built on another knoll or the cliff-top near the obvious landing-place if it was intended to be used in the same way as the Loch Dunvegan ones might have been.  I also don't think it was simply an over-the-top roundhouse for everyday living or to impress the neighbours - the entrance has been located on the brink of a steep scarp - hard to scramble up, and even harder to drive animals.  No way, in my opinion, that a sensible husbandman would locate it just there for everyday use - he could have set it back from the edge or faced the entrance onto the flat top of the knoll.  However, the likelihood of an unexpected attack is slim - even if no watch was kept over the actual beach-head, it would take raiders at least ten minutes to reach the broch from their first sight over the edge of the plateau - and that's assuming said raiders actually turned aside from the obvious route through the valley, up the narrow gorge and finding a footing to the hidden high land.   So, I think, the folk living perhaps in huts around the knoll would have enough time to get inside and bar the door.

What does everyone else think?

Ground cells On the ground floor of some brochs we find little rooms built into the thick walls, dubbed ground cells...
Posted by Caithness Broch Project on Thursday, 24 March 2016