Monument record 345 - RUDHA SHILLDINISH, LEWIS

NB43SE 1 4546 3063

'On the summit of Rudha Shilldinish, a peninsula connected to the land to the NW by a very narrow neck of land and rising about 30ft above sea level, are the merest fragments of a dun. The site covers an area about 100 yards in length from E to W and 80 yards in breadth and is well adapted for defence, the sides being precipitous except towards the NW. For a short distance along the southern flank, on the edge of the cliff, a mound of stones about 8ft in width and rising one ft above the interior with a single course of the outer facing in position is all that remains of the defences. The interior of the dun has been under cultivation in late times and the foundations of a homestead are still in evidence.' RCAHMS 1928, visited 13 June 1914.

NB 454 306. This is a fort. The peninsula is still being eroded by the sea, but the remains of the enclosing rampart, as described by RCAHMS can be traced for 60m along the S side, for 68m along the N side and for 8m across the isthmus. There is a narrow gap in the middle of this last stretch, but it may well be modern and the original entrance probably lay to the N of it, where the defences were staggered. At least four houses and associated yards existed inside the fort, as well as lazy beds.
Visited by OS (ALFR) assistant archaeology officer, 22 April 1964.

A survey of this site was undertaken by the Lewis and Harris Archaeology Group in June 1992. The enclosing rampart survives on the S side of the promontory as an earthen bank while on the northern edge it is of well constructed squared masonry. The entrance is of at least two phases. A number of apparently associated huts and enclosures lie in the southern part of the promontory. Later occupation of the site is focused on a substantial stone built rectilinear hall with an annexe to the SW and another to the N. To the W of this are a group of similar but slighter structures and enclosures. Almost all the remaining area is taken up with lazy beds. Amongst the lazy beds on the landward side of the approach causeway are traces of a further rampart.
Sponsor: Glasgow Archaeological Society.
C M Cunningham and S Hothersall 1992.

'The monument comprises of the remains of a small fortified settlement of Iron Age date situated on a peninsula connected to the mainland on the NW by a narrow strip of land. The area to be scheduled is irregular, measuring a maximum of 120m E-W by 80m N-S, to include the entire peninsula on which the fort is situated.'
HS Sceduling Document 27 January 1992.

RCAHMS, 1928, The RCAHMCS 9th Report & Inventory: Outer Hebrides, Skye and the Small Isles, 14, No. 46 (Bibliographic reference). SWE5587.

C M and S Cunningham and Hothe, 1992a, Discovery and Excavation, Scotland, 84 (Bibliographic reference). SWE25399.