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MHG5017 - Souterrain - Knock Ullinish

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A souterrain at Knock Ullinish, Skye.

The site was evidently visted by Samuel Johnson and James Boswell in 1773 during their journey through Scotland to the islands off the west coast. Under 'Ullinish': "From the Dun we were conducted to another place of security, a cave carried a great way under ground, which had been discovered by digging after a fox. These caves, of which many have been found, and many probably remain concealed, are formed, I believe, commonly by taking advantage of a hollow, where banks or rocks rise on either side. If no such place can be found, the ground must be cut away. The walls are made by piling stones against the earth, on either side. It is then roofed by larger stones laid across the cavern, which therefore cannot be wide. Over the roof, turfs were placed, and grass was suffered to grow; and the mouth was concealed by bushes, or some other cover.

These caves were represented to us as the cabins of the first rude inhabitants, of which, however, I am by no means persuaded. This was so low, that no man could stand upright in it. By their construction they are all so narrow, that two can never pass along them together, and being subterraneous, they must be always damp. They are not the work of an age much ruder than the present; for they are formed with as much art as the construction of a common hut requires. I imagine them to have been places only of occasional use, in which the Islander, upon a sudden alarm, hid his utensils, or his cloaths, and perhaps sometimes his wife and children.

This cave we entered, but could not proceed the whole length, and went away without knowing how far it was carried. For this omission we shall be blamed, as we perhaps have blamed other travellers; but the day was rainy, and the ground was damp. We had with us neither spades nor pickaxes, and if love of ease surmounted our desire of knowledge, the offence has not the invidiousness of singularity." <1>

NG 333 384 Erd House (NR)
OS 6"map, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1903)

On rough, rocky moorland about 400 yards W of the junction where the road to Ullinish Lodge branches off from the Dunvegan and Struanmore Road is a partly destroyed earth-house. The surviving portion consists of a straight narrow passage running roughly NE-SW, the side walls formed of good drystone building and the roof of stone lintels covered by about 1' of soil. The gallery measures 18' in length, and where entered at the SW end 4' in height and 2'7" in width, broadening to 3' about 6' farther in. The walls converge inwards slightly towards the top. There are indications that the southern continuation has taken a distinct curve towards the S.
The inner end of the structure has possibly taken the form of an oval or circular chamber, as there is a deep hollow surrounded by displaced stones at the northern end of the passage. This portion is obscure, and there are numerous remains of old houses and enclosures adjoining it. <2>

Earth-house as described by RCAHMS.
Visited by OS (C F W) 10 April 1961.

The site was Scheduled in 1961.

This underground chamber leads from a rectangular stone built house platform, one of several at this location, and is more likely to be a storage chamber or cellar associated with the depopulated settlement, than a souterrain
Visited by D M Reynolds, 1981

NG 333 385. At Ullinish, situated ½ mile north of Struan is a souterrain. This structure is partly destroyed but what remains is in good order. It consists of a passage going in about 3.9m with an average height of 0.92m and width of 0.9m. The walls comprise blocks of local Tertiary Basalt and are all dry stone. Lintel stones cover the roof and these are large thin slabs of the basalt lava measuring about 70cm long, 50cms wide and 10cm thick. The floor is bare earth. The structure has two collapsed areas: the first section and also an oval chamber near the rear. <3>

The Scheduling for the site was amended in 1991 by Historic Scotland to include elements of the surrounding settlement.

The site was included (with a site plan and section) in an inventory of souterrains on Skye by R Miket. The souterrain is located due west of the junction between the Ullinish road and the A863 on the Knock Ullinish promontory. Contained between two field-dykes climbing the eastern side of the promontory, and situated above a stream, are the remains of a small circular structure with an adjacent, larger rectangular building to the south. The north-west corner of the building has been largely quarried away, but a few metres west of its south-western corner lies the present opening to the souterrain.The souterrain is predominantly orientated southwest to northeast, is of dry-stone construction and has a minimum length of 13m. It lies in the midst of later settlement activity on the site, including buildings and yard enclosures. The original entrance is badly mutilated, although the depression marking its course is visible as a stone lined hollow, curving eastwards for c.6.9m until the first capping stone is reached. The present access lies near the mid-point of its original length. Here the passage is 0.9m wide and 0.6m high. Earth and stone debris covers the floor, which slopes down from the point of entry to allow a maximum height of 1.1m. The souterrain here is orientated 60 degrees east of north. In places the capstones are carried on a corbelled course of stones, which lie as much as 0.6 - 0.7m inside the wall-line. The gallery continues for a distance of 5.8m, where it coincides with the south-west wall of the rectangular structure on the ground surface. A hollow at this point marks a relatively recent disturbance, possibly that associated with the digging out of the fox. <4>

Site visited and photographed by Mr & Mrs M McGuire, 7/10/03. The Highland Archaeology Challenge. See assoc. docs. File and CD for Photographic Record.
J Aikten: 21/1/03.

Sources/Archives (4)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NG 3333 3845 (13m by 15m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NG33NW
Geographical Area	SKYE AND LOCHALSH
Civil Parish	BRACADALE

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