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MHG1926 - Hut circles, Lower Camster

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Full Description

(Area: ND 257 454) A group of hut circles lies on W side of road about 1/3 mile SE of Camster (ND 252 455). They lie on the end of a grassy spur which projects into the flat land by the burn.
Near the end of the spur is s circle with an interior diameter of about 16ft, enclosed by a bank some 9-10ft thick and having an entrance from SE. Some 20ft SW of it are the indefinite remains of another, oval or oblong in shape, measuring interiorly some 10 by 16ft. Entrance, in SW, appears to be very wide; the outline is, however, very indistinct.
About 100ft NE of first is another small circle, diameter of some 10ft, having an entrance from SE. Its bank is much worn down. Some 20ft to SE is another, oval in form, measuring interiorly some 14 by 24ft. The entrance has been from W, and bank on either side of it is carried down the hill in front for a distance of some 22ft with an intervening space of some 11ft.
RCAHMS 1911, visited 1910.

These features occur on a heather-covered spur and are difficult to interpret because of a blanket of peat. The structure 'A' first described by RCAHMS is undoubtedly a circular, stone-walled hut measuring ahout 8m diameter between centres of a wall spread to about 2.5m which is rather amorphous in E arc. The ill-defined entrance is in the ESE.
The structure '20ft to the SW' is no longer recognisable, appearing only as slightly disturbed ground.
The structure '100ft to the NE' ('B') is scarcely visible but appears to be circular and about 6.5m in diameter between the centres of its enclosing bank.
'C', structure 'about 20ft to SE' of 'B' caps a slight rise and is visible as a level area surrounded by an oval bank measuring 8.5m E-W by 6m transversely between its centres. It appears to be open to the W where it continues down the slope for another 7.5m with a constricted width of 4.5m. Its classification is uncertain but it is in the same state of preservation as hut 'A' and may be a contemporary building.
Surveyed at 1:10,000. Visited by OS (I S S) 12 April 1972.

(ND 2572 4541) Hut Circle (NR) OS 1:10,000 map, (1975).

Despite the doubts expressed by previous OS field investigator, this would appear to be a settlement of three hut circles (A-C), ill-preserved and heather-obscured, with 'C' a hut of the 'key-hole' variety. Each is as described in the previous field report.
Revised at 1:10,000. Visited by OS (J M) 8 December 1982.

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Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred ND 2572 4543 (54m by 78m) (4 map features)
Map sheet	ND24NE
Civil Parish	WICK
Geographical Area	CAITHNESS

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