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MHG28184 - Farmstead - Torr Breac

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Type and Period (1)

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Full Description

A farmstead, comprising one roofed and one unroofed building is depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Inverness-shire 1872, sheet cii). An enclosure is shown on the current edition of the OS 1:10000 map (1994).
Information from RCAHMS (AKK) 19 July 1996.

A pre-afforestation survey was undertaken by Headland Archaeology in 1999.

A farmstead comprising buildings and enclosures are situated to the north-west of the summit of Torr Breac. Most buildings are situated within an elongated enclosure 175 m north to south and 25 to 85 m wide.
3a) Rectangular building, 3 by 11.5 m, defined by low turf-clad stony banks up to 2.5 m wide and 0.4 m high. The building is aligned north to south and is situated on a low knoll towards the north end of the enclosure just outside the WGS boundary.
3b) Rectangular enclosure, 5 by 12 m, cut through the stone dyke on the east side of the enclosure. It is cut into a small hill to the north and west, and is defined on these sides by a break of slope. The interior is levelled by creating a platform to the south. The east side is defined by a turf-clad stony bank 0.9m wide and 0.4 m high.
Abutting the east side of the enclosure are the stone footings of a small rectangular building 2.5 by 3.5 m.
The enclosure is not shown on the 1" edition OS map and may post-date the 1870 survey.
3c) Sub-rectangular enclosure, 6 by 8 m, situated on the east side of the settlement enclosure. It is defined by turf-covered stony banks, up to1.5 m wide and 0.3 m high.
3d) Rectangular stone building 3.5 by 8.5 m (Plate 2). The walls are 0.7 to 0.9 m wide and up to 0.7 m high. The building is aligned north to south with an entrance at the north-east corner. There was no evidence of internal walls. This building is depicted as roofed on the 1" edition OS map surveyed in 1870.
3e) Sub-rectangular enclosure, 12 by 20 m, located to the east of building 3d (Plate 2). It surrounds a levelled area cut into the slope to the south-east and built up down slope to the north-west. The enclosure is defined by an earth and stone bank 1.6 m wide and up to 0.6 m high on the south and east side and by the terrace edge to the north and west.
3f) Rectangular stone building, 3.5 by 8.5 m (Plate 3). The walls are 0.7 to 0.9 m wide and up to 0.6 m high. The building is aligned north to south with an entrance in the middle of the west wall. It is divided into two equal sized rooms. The building is shown as unroofed on the 1" edition OS map surveyed in 1870.

In addition to the elements described above the site contains three small structures some 10 m to the south of enclosure 3e. To the west is a circular hollow, 3 m in diameter surrounded by a low bank 0.6 m wide and 0.2 m high. Some 5 m to the east of the hollow is a small C-shaped structure open towards the north, defined by stony wall-spread up to 1.2 m wide. A further 2 m to the east is a sub-rectangular hollow, 1.5 by 2 m, and up to 0.5 m deep. The elongated enclosure surrounding the farmstead is defined by a turf-covered stony bank up to 0.7 m high and 3 m wide on three sides. The west side of the enclosure is a standing stone dyke. A ditch 1.5 to 1.8 m wide and up to 0.5 m deep runs along the east side of the bank. A small rectangular stone structure 1.5 by 3 m (Plate 4) is built up against the east side of the enclosure bank.

A bank similar to the enclosure bank runs southwards over the hill from outside the south-east corner of the enclosure and terminates at the track some 120 m to the south. Built up against the east side of this bank are two small rectangular structures, 1.2 by 1.3 m and 1.4 by 1.5 m, similar to the one described above. These three structures are possibly the remains of small shelters built up against the dyke.
Condition: The settlement is clearly visible. However, some of the structures, especially the enclosure 3 e, are being damaged by rabbit burrowing. <1>

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Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NN 7942 9858 (100m by 100m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NN79NE
Civil Parish	KINGUSSIE AND INSH
Geographical Area	BADENOCH AND STRATHSPEY

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