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MHG3938 - Hut Circles - Tordarroch Cottage

Summary

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Type and Period (1)

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Full Description

NG63SE 27 680 330.

Centred at NH 680 330 are two stone walled huts (A and B), a possible hut C, and several stone clearance heaps probably from contemporary cultivation plots.
Hut 'A' on a rise measures c. 13.5m NW-SE by c. 12.0m transversely between the centres of a denuded wall spread to c. 3.0m. Several blocks, some displaced, occur around the S arc. The entrance in the SE is mutilated.
Hut 'B', set into the base of a SW slope, is circular measuring c. 8.5m in diameter between the centres of a mutilated wall spread to c. 1.5m. The entrance is not evident.
'C', possible a hut circle, is defined by a stone wall spread to c. 4.0m, destroyed in the SE, and measuring c. 18.0m NE-SW between wall centres. No entrance is evident.
Apart from the clearance heaps, any other trace of associated cultivation has been destroyed by modern cultivation.
Visited by OS (A A) 20 April 1970.

Surveyed at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (A A) 7 January 1972.

Five hut circle were surveyed in 1989 as part of a survey of lands around Tardarroch, Daviot and Dunlichty to identify and map archaeological monuments threatened by the proposed afforestation scheme. See report. <1>

On undulating, heather-covered moorland some 500m to the SE of Tordarroch House, there are three hut-circles, and a scattering of small cairns (NH63SE 43). Two other features, identified as hut-circles by Driscoll in 1989, appear to be largely natural.
OS hut 'A' sits on a slight rise above boggy ground at NH 6785 3306 and measures 11m from ESE to WNW by 10m transversely within a stony bank spread to 2m in thickness and standing to a height of 0.3m. The wall thickens on either side of the entrance, which is on the ESE (USN93 197).
Hut 'B', at NH 6800 3306, is set into the base of a slope on the NE. It measures 6m in diameter within a stony bank measuring 0.4m in height and spread to 1.8m in thickness. It has an entrance on the SSW (USN93 208). All that is visible of hut 'C', at NH 6813 3313, which lies immediately outside the fence surrounding the Free Church, is a length of bank, spread to 2.2m in thickness, forming part of the SW arc of the hut wall. Two other 'hut-circles' were identified by Driscoll in 1989, at NH 6801 3306 and NH 6776 3310 respectively. The former consists of an arc of possible bank and a drain, which together give a superficial impression of an enclosure, while the latter appears to be entirely natural.
(USN93 197, 208-9)
Visited by RCAHMS (SDB) 4 November 1992. <2>

Two hut circles were identified during a walkover survey in June 2009 at NH 68023 33060 and NG 68008 33054. Both were thickly covered with vegetation, including being moss and turf-grown, and it proved difficult to define their full extent. <3>

On the old 1:10,000 SMR map there is some confusion as to which hut circle is actually which, clearly arising from an incorrect grid reference for Hut Circle 'A' given by Driscoll in his 1989 report. Although he shows it correctly on his plan of surveyed features, his reported grid reference would put it to the east on the other side of the road near the river. In his response to the Tordarroch Woodland Grant Scheme application in 1989, the then Highland Regional Archaeologist, Robert Gourlay, included an excerpt of the SMR 1:10,000 map and this shows what was known in the area prior to Driscoll's 1989 survey. This earlier version of the map shows and labels Hut circles 'A', 'B' and 'C' correctly. It is clear that Driscoll's incorrect grid reference for 'A' was included on a new version of the SMR 1:10,000 map leading to incorrect depictions and labelling, which meant that the true 'A' was left off and a spurious 'A' was created. This anomaly has also been checked and verified by cross-referencing all the surveys carried out in this area. As such the GIS spatial data was corrected in 2018. [IS-L 23/02/2018].

Sources/Archives (3)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NH 6809 3310 (681m by 135m) (7 map features)
Map sheet	NH63SE
Civil Parish	DAVIOT AND DUNLICHITY
Geographical Area	INVERNESS

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