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| Broch entrance and outer wall |
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| Plan by Swanson |
Directions and Access:
NG 2055 4947
The broch is situated on Colbost Common Grazings, on a rocky knoll above the Dunvegan to Glendale Road.
There is room to park a car at a small quarry (approximate grid reference NG 2023 4964) or at the layby opposite Skye Silver. A track leads up the hill from the quarry. As the track ends, the broch comes into view and is reached by crossing boggy moorland. Approximately 10 minutes walk.
The Broch
In the original RCAHMS description of Dun Colbost (1904)
no entrance was visible but they believed “it was probably in the west”. The broch was described as being in “poor
condition”. Nevertheless, subsequent
excavations have revealed tantalising but inconclusive information hinting at a
more sophisticated structure. Glendale Trust
is currently investigating the possibility of obtaining funding for a more in
depth excavation.
An excavation, carried out in 1989, exposed the entrance
to the broch as well as interesting evidence of a cobbled area outside the broch.
The entrance itself is obscured by a "danger" sign
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| Camera inserted behind danger sign |
Further excavation in 1990 added little
knowledge but in 1994, the area between the broch wall and the outer “perimeter
“ wall revealed evidence of stone paving, covered drains, and a hearth.
Curiously there seems to be no entrance in
the outer wall which corresponds to the broch entrance.
There is a terrace south of the entrance which is mentioned in the brief description of 1990 excavation but no suggestion is offered as to its purpose. In a modern house, it would make a lovely flower bed!
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| Possibly lintel over intra mural gallery in East |
The inside of the broch is full of tumbled stones and it is
difficult to see much evidence of the mural gallery mentioned on canmore and no
scarcement can be seen.
There appears to be a very small structure inside the broch just north of the
entrance – perhaps a sheiling or bothy created after the broch had been
destroyed.
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| Internal structures north of entrance |
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| circular hole crossed with lines |
One of the stones in the North West Sector has an intriguing circular hole about 3" deep - it looks too perfectly circular to be natural.
An enclosure/sheep fank to
the east of the broch has clearly made use of many of the stones. This enclosure is shown on the 1877 map of
the area.
Portion of Inverness-shire (Isle of Skye), Sheet
XXI (includes: Duirinish)
'Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of
Scotland'
http://maps.nls.uk/index.html
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| Sheep fold - the wall to the north show better workmanship those the wall to the south |
References:
A MacSween & D Reed in Discovery and Excavation in
Scotland 1989, 1990. 1994.
Swanson, C B.
(1988) A contribution to the understanding of brochs,
Unpublished Ph D thesis, University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 17/3/17
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