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MHG51535 - Possible longhouse north of Cuil Breac, Elphin

Summary

The ruins of what may be a longhouse, which is depicted as a roofed building on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map c.1878.

Type and Period (1)

Protected Status

Full Description

This building is visible on photographs of the house Cuil Breac which lies approximately 120 metres to the south. The building is depicted on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map c.1878 and has the appearance of a longhouse. The modern OS map shows the eastern section still to be roofed, but this cannot be confirmed from the photographs. <1><2>

Visited by the Assynt's Hidden Lives project in December 2009. Situated on flat land at the bottom of the valley, 120m north of Cuil Breac house is a longhouse measuring 26m by 6m, standing to 1m, aligned E-W. It is constructed of varied rubble and is subdivided into two compartments; the a 7m long compartment in the east appears to be secondary. The walls mainly survive to 1m high but the wall separating the two compartments stands to 2.5m. The east compartment appears to be slightly narrower than the west. Footing stones are visible in many places on the west and south sides and there is a possible threshold towards the west end of the south elevation. Robbing and collapse has occurred on the north elevation of the additional compartment and generally all over the structure with loose rubble surrounding. There appear to be two blocked entrances, one in the NW corner of the main compartment over a culvert, and one in the additional compartment 3.5m from the north end. The second blocked entrance may be a break in construction as only one side of this possible entrance is clear. <3>

Sources/Archives (3)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NC 21461 11862 (26m by 20m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NC21SW
Geographical Area	SUTHERLAND
Civil Parish	ASSYNT

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Related Investigations/Events (1)

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