MHG2313 - Chambered cairn - Oslie
Summary
No summary available.
Type and Period (1)
- CHAMBERED CAIRN (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2401 BC)
Protected Status
Full Description
Oslie Cairn (NAT) Chambered Cairn (NR) OS 1:10,000 map, 1975
This is an Orkney-Cromarty type round cairn (? Camster-type chamber). RCAHMS (1911) describe it as a 'grass-covered hillock which seems to be a chambered cairn. On the summit just protruding through the soil is the edge of a large slab lying NNW and SSE, measuring about 6ft 5ins in length and 9 or 10ins in thickness, while parallel to its ENE face at either end and 2 to 3ft distant are two shorter slabs about 1ft 9ins in length. The outline of the mound is very indefinite, but the diameter appears to be from 50 to 60ft. In 1956, the cairn had been reduced, and only one slab was visible.
RCAHMS 1911, visited 1910; A S Henshall 1963, visited 1956
The cairn was Scheduled in 1934.
All that now remains of this cairn is an oval grass-covered mound measuring 13 by 5m. It stands 0.8m high and is surmounted by a stone slab set on edge. It is now impossible to determine the cairn's character.
Resurveyed at 1:2500. Visited by OS (R D) 27 October 1965
The chambered cairn survives as a partially turf-covered mound 14.5m NNE-SSW by 8m transversely and 1m high, in which are the large slab and the two shorter slabs noted by Miss Henshall. The original perimeter of the cairn is barely traceable.
Visited by OS (J M) 2 March 1982
The last remnant of this cairn is in an arable field which slopes gently down to S to shore of Loch Watten. The cairn is at 25m OD, 150m from loch. It has now been reduced to an oval area measuring 16m N-S by 4m across and 0.8m high, onto which field stones have been gathered. Near centre the tops of two slabs can be seen 1m apart. The NE slab is 0.5m long, 0.15m thick, and just protrudes. The SW slab, which leans slightly to SW, is 1.55m long, 0.3m thick and is exposed for 0.4m on the SW side. These two slabs together with the third slab seen in 1910 probably belong to the end compartment of a chamber the axis of which ran ENE-WSW. Visited 4 October 1988. <1>
Chambered cairn, Oslie cairn. Dimensions: 33 x 29m. Subcircular grass-covered mound 1.2m high with a central depression 11 x 5m, the remains of a chamber.
R J Mercer, NMRS MS/828/19, 1995
The scheduling of the cairn was amended by Historic Environment Scotland in 2017. <2>
GIS spatial data amended in 2018 according to location on OS MasterMap. <3>
Sources/Archives (5)
- --- SHG2664 Text/Report: RCAHMS. 1911. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions of Scotland. Third report and inventory of monuments and constructions in the county of Caithness. . 132, No. 478.
- --- SHG357 Text/Publication/Monograph: Henshall, A S. 1963. The chambered tombs of Scotland, Volume 1. 285, CAT 44.
- <1> SHG2115 Text/Publication/Volume: Davidson, JL and Henshall, A S. 1991. The chambered cairns of Caithness: an inventory of the structures and their contents. 131.
- <2> SHG27815 Text/Designation Notification/Scheduled Monument: Historic Environment Scotland. 2017. Amended entry in the Schedule of Monuments: SM472 Oslie, chambered cairn 250m S of Lynegar House. Historic Environment Scotland. Digital.
- <3> SHG23361 Image/Map: Ordnance Survey. Ordnance Survey Mastermap. Digital.
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred ND 2271 5679 (20m by 20m) (2 map features) |
|---|---|
| Map sheet | ND25NW |
| Civil Parish | WATTEN |
| Geographical Area | CAITHNESS |
Finds (0)
Related Monuments/Buildings (0)
Related Investigations/Events (0)
External Links (2)
- http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/SM472 (Online designation description (Historic Environment Scotland))
- https://canmore.org.uk/site/8740 (View HES Canmore entry for this site)
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