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MHG6253 - Souterrain - Uamh Nan Ramh, Raasay

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Full Description

Uamh nan Ramh was visited in 1773 by Dr Samuel Johnson and described in 'Journey to the Western Isles': "There is still a cavity near the house called the oar cave, in which the seamen, after one of these piratical expeditions, used as tradition tells us, to hide their oars. This hollow was near the sea, that nothing so necessary might be far to be fetched and it was secret, that enemies if they landed, could find nothing. Yet it is not very evident of what use it was to hide their oars from those, who, if they were masters of the coast, could take away their boats." <1>

Uamh nan Ramh was visited in 1786 by J Boswell in his 'Tour of the Hebrides': "A little from the shore, westward, is a kind of subterranian house. There has been a natural fissure or separation of rock running towards the sea which has been roofed over with long stones, and above them turf has been laid. In that place the inhabitants used to keep their oars." <2>

(NG 5495 3639) Uamh nan Ramh (NAT)
OS 25"map, Isle of Skye, (1877)

This is an artificial cave, formed by covering the space between two parallel rocks, and situated in a plantation about 1/4 mile SE of Raasay House. It was formerly used for concealing boat oars, hence the name, which means "Oar Cave". <3>

A cleft 0.9m wide, in an outcrop of rock facing E, has been roofed over with heavy stone lintels, from a point 4.0m from the face of the outcrop and extending 4.5m W, the lintels at the entrance being 1.1m above ground level and the roofing sloping down to the rear of the 'cave', the whole being covered over with earth and turf. The feature has the appearance of considerable age.
Visited by OS (ASP) 12 June 1961.

The tradition, and the name "Uamh nan Ramh", which is as described by prevous OS field investigator, are still known locally.
Visited by OS (RL) 22 September 1971.

Photographs of the souterrain were taken by R Gourlay in the 1980s. <4> <5> <6>

The souterrain lies on a craggy mound, covered in small shrubs and trees 2.5m west of the main Inverarish-Clachan road, opposite the old Post Office. The site overlooks a small burn running from Loch a'Mhuilinn, to the south. It is formed by roofing a natural fissure with large lintels but in places these are supported by built up sides of stone where the fissure sides are too low. There is a small break in the passage roof 6-7m from the entrance where a lintel is missing. However, this has been used as a rubbish tip which blocks further access to the passage. The passage carries on for another 7-8m before it terminates where a large lintel has fallen in, it may have went further.
Visited by A Nicolson 2 July 1990.

Between the 25th and 29th of March, 1991, Skye and Lochalsh Museums Service and the Raasay Heritage Society cleared the souterrain of recently accumulated domestic rubbish (ie 20th century) down to, but not into, presumed archaeological deposits. During removal of the rubbish 3 fallen cap-stones/lintels were removed from the passage floor. These lintels are on display to the left of the souterrain's upper entrance. Visited by M Wildgoose April 1991.
R Miket et al 1991; NMRS MS/530.

The site was Scheduled by Historic Scotland in 1993.

The site was visited by CFA Archaeology in 1997 during a walkover as part of archaeological works in advance of a proposed new ferry terminal on Raasay. The work carried out in 1990 was noted. With the exception of a narrow footpath leading to the souterrain, it was noted that the area was impenetrable due to heavy scrub vegetation and no associated features were located by the survey in the vicnity. <7>

The site is included in an inventory of souterrains on Skye by R Miket. The site lies at a point where the roadway approaching Raasay House from the south intersects with the short entrance to the former Post Office (just to the north of the Raasay Hotel), close to a low stone wall on the western side of the road. Steps introduced recently allow access onto a gently westward-sloping grassed area with a substantial rock outcrop on the northern side. The souterrain entrance is visible as a substantial cleft in the rock face.

The souterrain was formed by placing lintels over a natural fissure in bedrock. As the eighteenth-century accounts make plain, the souterrain was considered a local curiosity, receiving the occasional visitor. Recently, it became a convenient place to dispose of modern domestic refuse. In 1990 Dualchas, Skye and Lochalsh Museums Service and the Raasay Heritage Society removed the recent debris, which was found to lie directly upon the rock floor of the gallery, thereby revealing something of its structure and form.

The gallery is 13m long, although the initial 4.5m are unlintelled. It is aligned south-east to north-west and is irregular in width ranging from c.0.8m to a maximum of 2.4m at mid-length. For most of its length the gallery is c.lm high. At its northern end this reduces dramatically, terminating in what originally must have been a stone end-wall. This has now been partially removed to allow an exit at the rear of the rock outcrop. It is not possible to determine whether an entrance originally existed at this end of the souterrain, but its length was determined by the depth of the rock outcrop and its fissure, though the latter may well have been modified by the souterrain-builders. The floor slopes down steeply from south to north, a feature which, given the unroofed nature of the initial approach, must have made for a wet interior, however well drained from its northern end. <8>

Sources/Archives (9)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NG 5495 3639 (34m by 30m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NG53NW
Geographical Area	SKYE AND LOCHALSH
Civil Parish	PORTREE

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