Kilpatrick Dun

Kilpatrick Dun stands on the Isle of Arran, about two kilometres south of Blackwaterfoot village. It is an Iron Age dun, a fortified residence built on level ground on a northwesterly hill-slope. The site can be reached after a short walk from a small car park. Its purpose is still debated, with earlier suggestions including a Bronze Age burial cairn or an early Christian monastery. Most scholars now believe it was a fortified home typical of western Scotland in the later Iron Age. The circular dun measures seventeen metres across, enclosed by walls up to eight metres thick in places. The entrance is on the southern side and only 1.2 metres wide. Inside the thick walls are four small chambers. A large enclosure surrounds the dun, resembling the walled yards of early Christian monasteries. Near the far side of the enclosure are small rectangular buildings that look like later crofts or bothies. Visitors find a quiet hillside site reached by a short path from the car park. The thick stone walls of the dun still stand clearly, showing the entrance and internal chambers. The surrounding enclosure adds to the sense of a defended settlement. Nearby fields and the nearby Torr a'Chaisteal dun offer further Iron Age remains to explore. The views across the landscape reflect the kind of setting chosen for such strongholds centuries ago.