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MHG18741 - Building and Enclosure, Ruigh Dorch

Summary

A small shieling settlement which survives in Glenleraig, situated on a south facing slope to the north of the Abhainn Gleann Leireag.

Type and Period (2)

Protected Status

Full Description

NC13SE 13 161 307

An unroofed building attached to an enclosure is depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Sutherland 1878, sheet lix). Some lengths of walls are shown on the current edition of the OS 1:10,560 map (1967).
Information from RCAHMS (SAH) 5 September 1995

Visited by the Assynt's Hidden Lives project in December 2009. A 10m long sub-rectanguar drystone structure was identified c. 40m north of the river with an associated stone and earth bank enclosure to the south-west. The building is constructed of gathered stone, standing to max of 1.0m high, 10m long and 5m wide, with walls 0.6m thick. The east wall bows out slightly forming a slight curve; the entrance is in south wall, c.1m wide. In the SE corner a very
small cell is formed with internal dimensions of c.0.5m by 0.7m.
From the W wall, beside the entrance, a stone wall continues to the south for a further 15m but becomes discontinuous and very overgrown - this may originally have continued down to the river. Approximately 40m to SE lies an associated sub-circular enclosure, formed by earth and stone banks, now very degraded and heavily overgrown. There is a possible entrance in the E side, where the bank is very flat. The enclosure forms a raised platform at the S where the bank and natural slope drop away steeply, approximately 10m by 9m and standing to a maximum height of 0.8m at the NW corner. Several clearance cairns were observed in the surrounding area. <1>

Surveyed by Historic Assynt. This small shieling which lies in Glenleraig and is situated on a south facing slope to the north of the Abhainn Gleann Leireag. It is surrounded by a much damaged curving turf and stone dyke with a short stretch continuing alongside the burn at the eastern end. What appears to be a later stone dyke cuts across the shieling from north to south leaving about two thirds of the area to the west and one third to the east. On the east side of this dyke towards its southern end a small rectangular structure has been formed. The shieling has a large number of clearance cairns suggesting that it has been cultivated. However there appear to be more cairns in the western section suggesting that after the crossdyke was built, the two areas were either used differently or possibly that cultivation of the eastern section was abandoned. The first edition OS 6inch map shows only the larger western section of the shieling. <2>

Sources/Archives (2)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NC 1608 3074 (33m by 27m) Approximate extent
Map sheet	NC13SE
Geographical Area	SUTHERLAND
Civil Parish	ASSYNT

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Investigations/Events (2)

External Links (1)