EHG6327 - Trial trenching - new house plot, Hunting Hill, Tain

A trial trenching evaluation was undertaken by Avon Archaeology (Highland) in 2024 in advance of the development of a new dwelling and associated infrastructure at a site located 90m west of the former RAF Command Centre, Hunting Hill, Muir of Hilton, Tain. The project was designed to produce a basic descriptive record of two ruined former croft buildings of uncertain origin and, thereafter, recover new archaeological information to elucidate their date and function, by means of four targeted evaluation trenches. The evidence revealed in the evaluation trenches indicated that the larger of the two buildings was, at least in part, used as a dwelling, with the interior subdivided into several bays and a hearth built into the west gable end. The smaller building, Building 2, was originally partly open on the south side and incorporated a carefully laid cobbled surface internally, which suggested it was primarily used as an animal shed or byre. Finds recovered from stratified floor deposits in each building was restricted to material of later 19th to 20th date. No evidence was recovered to suggest the former croft buildings date any earlier than the 19th century. <1>