Dun Dornaigil

Dun Dornaigil stands beside the Strathmore River in the Highlands, a few kilometres south of Ben Hope. This Iron Age broch was built two or three thousand years ago as a fortified farmhouse or stronghold. Its circular stone walls still rise in places to nearly seven metres, though the entrance is blocked by fallen stones. A massive triangular lintel, one and a half metres wide, frames the blocked doorway on the north-east side. The broch’s outer ring is about fourteen and a half metres across, with walls two to three metres thick around most of the circle. Historic Environment Scotland now looks after the site and has placed an information board near the limited parking area. The broch’s interior is filled with rubble from collapsed upper floors, so visitors cannot enter the structure. The surviving walls show how the builders shaped the stone to create a single tall chamber inside. The lintel’s size hints at the weight it once bore above the doorway. Visitors find a quiet riverside setting with views towards Ben Hope. The broch’s outer walls stand clearly above the surrounding ground, though ivy and grass grow over parts of the stonework. An information board explains what can still be seen without entering the broch. The site offers a glimpse of Iron Age life in a remote Highland valley.