Monument record 552 - DUN BAN, BARRA

NF60SW 4 6311 0037.

(NF 6311 0037) Dun Ban (NR)
OS 6"map, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1904)

'Dun Ban' the remains of a broch on a rocky promontory. Its internal diameter is 25ft and the wall is up to 12ft thick. A wall of large irregular blocks runs across the neck of the peninsula, with an entrance near the NE end. There are slight buildings within the court, and a substantial one against the wall.
RCAHMS 1928.

'Dun Bahn' - A promontory site defended by an outer wall, with traces of an entrance through it and slight footings of a sub-circular building within the space enclosed. Surface finds of pottery equate with material from Dun Cuier (A Young 1958) (4th to 7th c. AD - NF60SE 1). Classified as a dun.
A Young 1958 and 1964.

Generally as previously described. This dun or broch is sub-circular, with a diameter of c 18.0m over walls c 4.0m thick. The outer wall-face has been exposed on the east side to a height of 1.2m: elsewhere it is only traceable by a few facing stones. The inner wall face is obscured by debris. There are traces of a possible entrance in the middle of the east side and to the south of this, within the wall thickness, are the outlines of a small oval chamber c 2.5m by 1.5m.
The wall across the promontory is best preserved to the SE of the dun, to a maximum height of 1.0m.
No trace of any buildings was seen in the area described by the RCAHMS (RCAHMS 1928) although any foundations are probably buried under the tumble of bare stones extending from the SE side of the structure to the wall.
Surveyed at 1/10,560 and 1/2500.
Visited by OS (W D J) 17 May 1965.

T226. Generally as described; heavily grassed over.
K Branigan and P Foster 1995; NMRS MS/595/6.

The monument known as Dun Ban, promontory fort and broch, Barra, comprises the remains of a promontory fortification, within which is a ruined broch, both dating to the middle or late Iron Age (c. 200BC to c. 600AD). The site is to be found in rough graxings on the coast to the N of Ben Tangaval. The area to be scheduled is irregular, defined by edges of the peninsula, giving maximum dimensions of 165m NW-SE by 70m transversely, to include the promontory fortification and an area around in which associated remains may survive.
HS scheduling document, 13.9.2005

RCAHMS, 1928, The RCAHMCS 9th Report & Inventory: Outer Hebrides, Skye and the Small Isles, 131, No. 446 (Bibliographic reference). SWE5587.

A Young, 1955-6a, Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 293 (Bibliographic reference). SWE8434.

A Young, 1961-2, Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 193 (Bibliographic reference). SWE6988.