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MHG12123 - Unapool

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NC23SW 7 centred on NC 236 317.

NC 234 320 - NC 234 318. A settlement with trackways and lazybeds lies along the 275' contour between Unapool P O and Drumbeg road fork. The main structures, below a boundary wall, are 8 longhouses, some with annexes and at least one two-roomed; five oval structures, one of them outside the boundary; two structures resembling kilns and various other structures. Presumably the 'Unipoll' of Roy's Map.(W Roy 1747)
T C Welsh 1970; W Roy 1747. <1>,<2>

Minor depopulated village of 'Unipoll' centred at NC 234 321, with clearance heaps, areas of lazy beds, and extensive outfields.
Visited by OS (A A) 22 August 1974.


A township comprising five roofed and twenty-seven unroofed buildings, three unroofed structures, a field-system and five small enclosures, one of which is annotated as a fank, is depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Sutherland 1878, sheet lx). Eight roofed and five unroofed buildings and two small enclosures, one of which is annotated as a fank, are shown on the current edition of the OS 1:10,000 map (1992).
Information from RCAHMS (SAH) 6 September 1995

Surveyed by the Assynt's Hidden Lives project in December 2009.
The ruinous remains of an abandoned township lie just to the south of modern Unapoll, adjacent to a small river running down to the loch below. The remains are divided by the N-S running A894, with the structures located to the east of the road, and the majority of the visible enclosures and lazy beds visible to the west side.

15 rectangular unroofed drystone structures were identified, all ruinous and in various degrees of collapse and submerged in vegetation. A possible 16th rectangular building was noted but this was too ruinous to make out a definite shape. In addition one oval drystone structure was observed with a pile of rubble nearby which might represent another.

The structures spread over a considerable area on either side of a small stream which joins to the river Allt a' Ghamhna. The first structure encountered ('A' on field sketches) has been re-built and modified and now contains a stone and corrugated iron shed.

The structures vary in size, from c. 7m x 3m, up to c. 12-13m x 4m, and generally stand to c. 0.5m in height - none more than 1m. Some of the structures (A, C, D, M, N) contain the remnants of internal divisions which may indicate that they had two rooms.

Structure F comprises either one long narrow structure, or two adjoining structures, attached to a large enclosure, approx. 33m x 12m, also bounded by drystone walling. Located to the SE of this enclosure, on the banks of the river, a possible lade was observed curving around to the north before rejoining the river. A large area of rubble lies up against the lade towards its east end which may be the remains of a mill structure (L).

To the NE of the possible mill are two rectangular structures which appear to be surrounded and possibly joined by a drystone rubble dyke. At least three trackways were observed; two towards the east end of the township and one towards the west.

An enclosure was observed upstream of the main farm steading, a D-shaped earth and stone bank on heather moorland. Numerous clearance cairns, mostly around 2m by 3m, and large tracts of improved ground are contained within this structure. A long, low mound located towards the river is also likely to be a clearance cairn.

Q, R, S
A series of earth and stone banks (structures Q, R and S), now covered by heather and bracken, form large enclosures on either side of the AB94. Within the enclosures on the west side of the road several small clearance cairns were observed. A series of possible lazy beds were noted on the east facing side, closest to road, approx 4m wide each.

T, U, V, W
A further three structures T, U and W were observed on a flat plateau above the valley where the other structures are located, to the W of the enclosures. Structure T is a small drystone building approx 3m by 3m with an entrance in the east wall, with a large drystone enclosure attached to its south and east sides. The enclosure is 16m long by c. 10m wide with entrance to NE c. 3m wide.

Alongside the enclosure, on its west wall another drystone structure (U) was observed, possibly an outbuilding/barn, measuring 4m by 11m and so overgrown that no entrance could be determined.

Further to the NW another small drystone structure was identified, c. 5m x 3m in size (structure W). Most of these structures are ruinous and indistinct; only structure T stands to any height (c. 0.75m); the others only c. 0.3m high and very heavily overgrown, only just visible.

Between structures U and W a large clearance cairn was observed c. 4m in diameter and up to 1.5m in height. <3>

Sources/Archives (3)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NC 2366 3172 (323m by 390m) Approximate extent
Map sheet	NC23SW
Geographical Area	SUTHERLAND
Civil Parish	ASSYNT

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