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Dun Carloway

Dun Carloway

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LOCATION: Carloway
PERIOD: 1970s
DISTRICT: Lewis
OLD COUNTY/PARISH: ROSS:Uig
CONTRIBUTOR: The Highland Council Planning Department
COLLECTION NAME: The Highland Council Planning Dept
CREATOR: T. Kenneth MacKenzie
location map

Dun Carloway (Dùn Chàrlabhaigh), on the island of Lewis, is one of the best preserved brochs. It stands on a hillside overlooking Loch Roag and the ruins of blackhouses that may have been built using stone taken from it.

Dun Carloway was probably built around 50 BC. Surrounded by primitive dwellings with free ranging livestock it would have been used as a lookout tower. The tallest part still standing is 6.7m (22ft) high. The overall diameter is 14.3m (47ft), and the inner courtyard, with two side cells leading off, is 7.5m (24ft) across. Originally, the walls might have been about 13m (43ft) high. The double wall is well preserved and shows how tiers of galleries were linked by a stone staircase within the hollow wall.

Dun Carloway featured prominently in reports on Western Isles brochs in the late 19th century and became one of the first ancient monuments in Scotland to be taken into state care. By this time a large a part of the wall had been removed, possibly to build the blackhouses nearby. The site is now in the care of Historic Scotland.



IDENTIFIER: HC_PLANNING_01_029_0758


Some other items in this collection...



Cawdor Parish Church

Cawdor Parish Church

New Keiss Castle

New Keiss Castle

Barevan Church

Barevan Church

Tulloch Ard, Plockton

Tulloch Ard, Plockton





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