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MHG57751 - Hut circle - Aultanfearn ('J')

Summary

One of ten hut circles at Aultanfearn.

Type and Period (1)

Protected Status

Full Description

Hut circle 'J' - one of ten hut circles at Aultanfearn, not necessarily all contemporary. This was not originally identified by the OS in 1970-71. NOTE: previously all ten were included under a single record - see also individual records.

Centred at NH592 757 on a generally SW-facing slope is a settlement of 7 stone-walled huts ('A' - 'G') and a contemporary field system. All the huts are oval, and apart from 'F' and 'G' are oriented N- S with an entrance in S either ill-defined or mutilated.
Huts surveyed at 1/10 560.
Visited by OS (RL) 11 November 1970 and (ISS) 22 March 1973.

No change to previous field report. Surveyed at 1:10 000.
Visited by OS (JB) 18 November 1976

NH57NE 2.00 NH 592 757
NH57NE 2.01 NH 593 757 Hut-Circles
NH57NE 2.02 NH 593 757 Field-system; Small cairns

10 hut-circles of this unenclosed settlement are scattered over a distance of 400m along 275m contour. 4 of the hut-circles (B, C, E, and K) are platformed or terraced into the slope. Huts A-G were as recorded by the OS and a further three hut-circles and an extensive area of small cairns have now been identified.

Hut-circle 'J' (NH5948 7560) lies in the lee of the forestry plantation about 40m to its SE and about 40m E of hut 'G'. It measures 9.5m in diameter within a bank spread to 2.3m in thickness and up to 0.4m in height; the entrance is located on the SE.
Visited by RCAHMS (PJD) 1 December 1989

The hut circles were visited by C Dagg in 2011 during a walkover survey in advance of a proposed new forestry plantation on the north side of Strathrusdale. All ten hut circles were located. To the northwest of E and F no contemporary features were noted. The most prominent hut circle is D at NH 59281 75840, the only one with distinctively different vegetation from its surrounds: grass, moss and rushes, and with visible stones. Most of the hut circles are low, indistinct banks on platforms or slight knolls, heather-covered and with no visible stones. One circle, H, at NH 59452 75648, is cut by a post and wire fence and two are located east of this fence: G, at NH 59441 75599 is large with substantial banks and a sunken centre, and J at 59479 75597, adjacent to an artificially enhanced watercourse of much later date. Nine of the hut circles are between the 260m and 280m contours; only F is slightly higher, just below the 290m contour. The field clearance piles marking the extent of the contemporary field system are for the most part low, spread and flat-topped, often with mossy tops. These, and other features of cultivation noted in the OS survey, extend no further than the structures noted as site 7 (see MHG). <1>

GIS spatial data amended in 2018 according to approximate position as shown on 2009 vertical APs. <2>

Sources/Archives (2)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NH 5947 7560 (18m by 18m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NH57NE
Geographical Area	ROSS AND CROMARTY
Civil Parish	ROSSKEEN

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