Dun Carloway

Dun Carloway is built on a rock on a steep south slope at the height of 50 metres, overlooking Loch Carloway. The original height of the broch is unknown. The external diameter is 14.3 metres and the internal diameter of the inner courtyard is 7.4 metres. The walls vary in thickness from 2.9 to 3.8 metres from the south-east to the north.

The entrance is on the north-west side. It is 75 centimetres wide and 1 metre high, and the walls on this side do not much exceed the height of the entrance capstone. On the south side of the entrance passage is a so-called guard cell, a small side room whose opening is 61 centimetres square. In the interior there are three further openings. The opening on the eastern side, opposite the entrance, leads to the stairs between the walls, which run along one quarter of the circumference. The north-eastern opening gives access to an oval room, and the west opening gives access to a room under the staircase. In the south-eastern wall two large wall voids are visible, and on the north side of the interior the rock on which the broch was built protrudes.

It is likely that there was an upper wooden floor, as a scarcement (ledge) that could hold such a floor is visible 2 metres above ground level. Although the surviving wall is higher than nine metres, no trace of a higher scarcement has been found. This could mean that there was only one floor, or that a different method was used for higher floors.

Limited archaeological excavation took place at the beginning of the 20th century and in the 1970s. Excavation in the north-eastern room found at least three peat ovens used in the period 400–700, together with a lot of pottery remains, a fragment of a quern-stone and a collection of snail shells. The fireplaces contained no animal bones, which makes domestic use for preparing meals seem unlikely, and an industrial use is also unlikely because of the absence of tools used in making ironwork. The room was probably used only for the manufacture of earthenware pots.