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MHG17904 - Farmstead - Altanan

Summary

A farmstead, comprising an unroofed structure and an enclosure are depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map.

Type and Period (1)

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Full Description

A farmstead, comprising an unroofed structure and an enclosure are depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Sutherland 1878, sheet xiv). A single enclosure is depicted on the current edition of the OS 1:10,000 map (1988).
Information from RCAHMS (SAH) 17 August 1995

A rapid coastal zone assessment survey was conducted by GUARD in the Autumn of 1997 commissioned by Historic Scotland from the Viking and Early Settlement Archaeological Research Project based at the University of Glasgow.

On gently-sloping, marshy grassland on the W side of the Kyle of Durness is a large dry-stone enclosure. This measures 180 m N-S by 150 m NW-SE and is defined by a wall 1-1.5 m high and 0.5 m wide. The enclosure is split by a burn which forms a waterfall in the NW corner. The east wall has been squared off at the exit point for this burn and this point may have served as the entrance to the enclosure. In the west corner of the enclosure there is a small dry-stone structure built against the SW wall. This structure measures 4 m out from the enclosure wall and runs for 4.5 m along it. This latter wall is a pointed gable surviving to 1.5 m in height. The return wall that leads from this gable back to the enclosure wall runs SW for 3 m before turning SE for 3.5 m to form a narrow passageway into the main part of the structure. The entrance to this structure is at the SE end of this passageway and is 0,75 m wide. Within the enclosure wall, at a point 1.5 m from the SE end of the structure just described, is a sheep entrance which stands 0.75 m high to the lintel within the fabric of the wall. It would appear that in the last stage of use of this enclosure it was a huge sheep corral. The structure within may have been used for shearing as the entrance would be an ideal sheep run. The sheep entrance noted beside this is the only clear entrance to the enclosure, with the exception of that noted at the outlet of the burn. The description of this site in the NMRS entry as a possible farmstead seems unlikely in relation to the extant remains. However, there are faint traces of cultivation marks within the enclosure which may point to an earlier farmstead at this site. The NE corner of the enclosure has collapsed, presumably due to wave action, and the whole of the eastern wall is subject to erosion.

NGR adjusted based on 1999-2001 vertical aerial photographs. <2>

Sources/Archives (2)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NC 3589 6364 (212m by 219m) (3 map features)
Map sheet	NC36SE
Geographical Area	SUTHERLAND
Civil Parish	DURNESS

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