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MHG29958 - Hut Circles - Loch Barabhaig B

Summary

Two hut circles were discovered during a pre-afforestation survey.

Type and Period (2)

Protected Status

Full Description

Loch Barabhaig WGS Survey site 13
JW 4/5/2001

Two poorly preserved hut circles and a small building situated on a gentle slope c30m NW of an un-named tributary of Allt Tarsuinn were recorded in a pre-aforestation survey by Wordsworth Archaeological Services in November. The first hut circle lies on the lower slope at NG 68247 10224 close to a large rock outcrop and measures c6-7m in diameter. The second hut circle lies c60m NNW (upslope) at NG 68218 10282 and is badly obscured by coarse grass, bracken and peat growth. It measures c6m in diameter, with walls c1m wide standing up to 0.2m high. Between the two hut circles, c 35m NW of the first, is an oval structure largely obscured by dense bracken. It has been built against the hillside with turf walls c 1m high and measures c7m in diameter, with an entrance in the S. <1>

A hut circle (NG 68247 10222)is situated on a level area of heather and bracken-covered land in a raised but sheltered position above an un-named tributary of Allt Tarsuinn (the crossways burn - or the burn that goes across) in a small, shallow glen that runs parallel to the Sound of Sleat. The hut circle has an external diameter of approximately 8.10m at its widest. The walls are constructed of stone and turf and are between 1-1.5m thick and .4m high at the highest point. The doorway appears to be 1.3m wide and faces towards the Sound of Sleat. A few stones lie within the walls in an apparently random pattern and have presumably tumbled out of the walls. Tree-planting has created holes less than 5m from the site, and although the mounds do not appear to have been planted in the immediate vicinity, trees surround the site.
About c60m W of the hut circle, built against a steep, rocky bank at at NG 68219 10250, there is a second circular building or enclosure, whose form and dimensions suggest that it may have been a sheiling hut rather than a hut circle (as was suggested in the Wordsworth survey, November 2000). The internal diameter is 2.5m, the walls are 1m high and the entrance faces approximately E. A short section of wall extends N from the entrance, which, with the rocky outcrop forming the back wall, and a large placed stone, creates a small triangular storage area or extremely small pen. A raised platform extends for approximately a metre in front of the entrance and a wall running in front of this creates a narrow terrace /access path which can be approached from either side. There is also an opening in this wall, immediately in front of the entrance of the shieling hut.
Information from SRP Camuscross, August 2011. <2>

These structures do not appear on the 1st or 2nd edition OS maps.

Sources/Archives (2)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NG 6822 1024 (100m by 100m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NG61SE
Geographical Area	SKYE AND LOCHALSH
Civil Parish	SLEAT

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Investigations/Events (1)

External Links (1)