Arran: Kilpatrick Dun (Reconstruction drawing)


This illustration is an artist's reconstruction of what the dun may have looked like when it was occupied. Drumadoon fort is situated in the centre background of the picture.

Circular buildings like this were constructed with large upright timbers forming an inner circle with the roof resting on the uprights and sloping down to the outer stone wall. Excavations in the 1970s revealed no traces of internal features and it is likely that the enclosure was used as a single extended family dwelling.

Many duns also have a later history in the 7th and 8th centuries. The turf wall and ancillary structures are probably the remnants of later activity. There is also evidence of agricultural use of the surrounding land in the post-Medieval period. It is difficult to interpret sites like this and the dun at Torr a'Chaisteal . It is likely, however that the site started to be occupied in the last centuries of the 1st millennium BC and continued to be used in some form or another for several hundred years.

SCRAN ID: 000-000-004-086-C; Historic Scotland