The Allt Sordail Dun

On Saturday intrepid members of the Ardnamurchan History & Heritage Association braved rain, low temperatures and the boggy ground beneath the forestry to the south of Swordle to investigate a hilltop fortress called the Allt Sordail Dun by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Scotland.

The dun occupies a lozenge-shaped area much larger than the RCAHMS described, some 23.5m by 14m. In places the eastern wall of the dun is reasonably well preserved, and is said by the RCAMHS to be up to 2.5m thick. At the northern and southern ends there are inner and outer walls.

Within the walls is a 14m diameter basin-shaped area now filled with bracken.

At the northern end there is a small, roughly 1.5m x 1.5m enclosure and a cairn, both thought to be of much later date than the walls.

The RCAHMS report is unable to give the dun a date, nor does it attempt to explain why a fortification like this lies in such a remote area some two kilometres inland from the coast, though one possibility is that it controlled an ancient trackway running from Swordle to the south coast.