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MHG4828 - Souterrain - Claigan

Summary

A souterrain at Claigan, Skye.

Type and Period (1)

Protected Status

Full Description

A souterrain at Claigan, Skye.

(NG 238 539). Some 550 yards SE of Claigan Farmhouse, there is a partly destroyed earth-house. It consists of a long narrow gallery running in a NE direction (260 mag) (Sic), 1ft below the surface, for a distance of 36ft where the passage is blocked by debris. The entrance is dilapidated and measures 2ft 5ins in width. The roof is formed of stone lintels: the walls are of rough drystone.

Beyond the blocked end of the earth-house is a hollow with blocks of stone appearing above the soil around the margin. This might be the terminal chamber, but there are remains of old houses and enclosure walls in the neighbourhood and this feature may have been connected with them. <1>

Earth-house as described above except that it extends for about a further 18.5m to the SW. For the first 4.7m, it is roofless and filled with earth and stones to within 0.3m. Of ground level, and it can be traced for at least another 3.7m, the first lintel stone just visible beneath the turf, and the passageway silted up almost to the roof. Beyond this, a slight hollow appears in the turf, and continues the line of the earth-house, but with a slight turn to the west, fading out after about 10.0m where the slope of the ground suddenly increases.
Visited by OS (A S P) 6 May 1961.

One of the best preserved structures on Skye which consists of a passage 9.8m long which climbs by about 4-5 degrees and narrows towards the end of the passage. The structure is made of dry stone basalt blocks with large lintel stones. An interesting feature is a small compartment situated half a metre in from the entrance, the dimensions of which are 40cm wide, 50cm high and 37cm deep. In the surrounding area there is evidence of habitation, although it is difficult to assess. <2>

The site is included (with a plan and section) in a discussion and in an inventory of the souterrains of Skye by R Miket. The line of a gallery is visible as a broad linear hollow with some protruding stonework, in gently rising ground immediately north-east of where the trackway from the B road to Claigan turns to the south-east. The souterrain is orientated south-west to north-east. Flanking the line of the gallery on both sides are parallel linear mounds of upcast, presumably the result of quarrying the lintel-stones. Thereafter lintel stones rest upon drystone walling, flanking a straight and narrow gallery (0.75m — 0.65m), which is at least 23m long. On either side of the gallery are small recesses. The floor is blanketed in boulder clay, which rises to fill the souterrain at a distance of 4.55m from the first lintel. This point coincides with a field dyke at the surface, beyond which a narrow linear depression leads to a circular hollow, some 14m short of a second field-dyke to the north-east. This may indicate the position of a terminal chamber. At its western end the souterrain runs beneath a rectangular stone building, which is overlain by later structures with adjacent enclosures possibly post medieval period in date. <3>

Sources/Archives (3)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NG 2380 5391 (41m by 25m)
Map sheet	NG25SW
Geographical Area	SKYE AND LOCHALSH
Civil Parish	DUIRINISH

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