52246: Dun Carloway Broch
Dun Carloway is a well-preserved broch dominating the village of Doune Carloway. It likely dates from the last centuries BC.
It is now thought that brochs were "status symbol" dwellings as much as they were defensive forts. It rises to 30 feet, and its external diameter is 47 feet. According to local tradition, it was occupied intermittently until the 17th century.
In the 16th century the Dun was attacked by Donald Cam Macaulay, who climbed up the outside on the points of daggers to throw burning heather inside to smoke out the Morrisons, who where sheltering inside after a cattle raid.
There is some evidence that another much smaller broch was to be found close by – on an islet across from the present-day Doune Braes Hotel.
Record Location
Details
- Record Type:
- Historical or Archaeological Site
- Type Of Site:
- Broch
- Period:
- Iron Age (pre-Roman) (800-0 BC)
- Record Maintained by:
- HC
Related Media
Doune Broch
Doune and the Broch
Dun Carloway