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MHG2456 - Hut Circle, Bouilag

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Full Description

Pict's House (NR) (Remains of)
OS 6" map, Caithness, 1st ed., (1871)

There are two hut circles some 40 yds apart on the slope of a hill. The northerly hut (B) is 30ft in diameter internally within an overgrown wall or bank about 7ft thick. A facing of stones set on end is visible here and there around the exterior. The entrance is in the E; its breadth is indefinite. The south hut circle (A) is 23 by 25ft within a wall, 6ft thick, which has been faced externally with large flat stones, 2 to 3ft in length and 1ft in thickness, laid almost contiguously. The entrance, in the E, is 2 ft wide. (NB.: This report had previously been erroneously recorded as ND03SE 7, q.v.)
RCAHMS 1911.

Centred ND 096 331. 2 hut circles as described by the RCAHMS.
Visited by OS (W D J) 29 June 1960.

(A: ND 0957 3323; B: ND 0960 3312) Hut Circles (NR)
OS 6" map, (1962)

Situated at ND 096 332, on a gentle N-facing slope in open moorland, is a group of 4 hut circles (A-D) including the two described by the RCAHMS (A and B).
'A' measures 11.5m E-W by 10.5m transversely within a wall spread to 1.5 -2m and 0.3m average internal height. The wall expands to an actual width of about 2m at entrance, in the E. The outer face of contiguous blocks laid flat (see RCAHMS) is an unusual feature.
Hut 'B' is 9m diameter within a wall spread to 3m wide and surviving to 0.6m in height. Occasional inner and outer facing stones are exposed suggesting a wall thickness of about 2m between faces. On the S side of the entrance, in the E, is a displaced upright portal stone.
Huts 'C' and 'D', both overgrown with heather, are newly discovered. The former, at ND 0966 3313, measures 7.5m in diameter within a wall spread to 2m widening to 3m thick at the simple entrance in the E arc.
Hut 'D' appears to have been robbed for stones presumably for the early modern deserted hill farms nearby. It is 11m in overall diameter; the wall is of indeterminate thickness and the position of the entrance is uncertain.
There is no evidence of associated cultivation.
Surveyed at 1:10,000. Visited by OS (N K B) 11 August 1982.

Sources/Archives (3)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred ND 0961 3317 (158m by 178m) (6 map features)
Map sheet	ND03SE
Civil Parish	LATHERON
Geographical Area	CAITHNESS

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