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MHG62774 - Hut circle - Achvraid 'F'

Summary

One of a number of hut circles around Achvraid. Originally noted by the OS as Hut Circle 'F'.

Type and Period (1)

Protected Status

Full Description

One of a number of hut circles around Achvraid. Originally noted by the OS as Hut Circle 'F'.

Centred at NH 647 380 on a broad ridge, is a settlement of eight stone-walled huts (A - H) and an associated field system.
Hut 'A' is oval and the remainder are circular, with entrances visible in the E or SE arcs. Except for hut 'G', all measurements across the huts are given between wall centres.
Hut 'A', on a rise, measures c. 11.5m E-W by c. 10.0m, with the wall spread to c. 2.5m all round. The "simple" entrance is c. 1.5m wide.
'B' is c. 10.0m in diameter, the wall spread to c. 2.5m all round. It occurs in a cultivated field and is crossed by a fence. The entrance, c. 1.5m wide, is mutilated.
'C', on a knoll, is denuded, and measures c. 10.5m in diameter, with a wall spread to c. 2.5m all round. The entrance is mutilated.
'D' measures c. 13.5m in diameter with the wall spread to c. 2.5m all round. The SE arc is mutilated and the entrance is not evident.
'E' is c. 9.5m in diameter with a wall spread to c. 2.0m all round. The "simple" entrance is c. 1.5m wide.
'F', the best preserved, measures c. 13.0m in diameter, with the wall spread to c. 2.5m in the mutilated W arc widening to c. 3.5m at the "clubbed" entrance in the E, which is c. 1.3m wide internally, splaying to c. 3.0m externally. A mutilated field wall stops short of the hut in the W; it is impossible to determine if it joined the hut.
'G' is 7.2m internal diameter within a wall spread to c. 1.5m all round. The inner face is traceable as a discontinuous line of stones set on edge, and one upright stone of the outer face is visible in the SE, giving a wall thickness of 1.3m here. The entrance is mutilated.
Hut 'H', about 40.0m W of the chambered cairns named Carn Glas (NH63NW 14) is ill-defined, and measures c. 14.0m in diameter with a mutilated wall of indefinite width. The entrance is not apparent.
The field system comprises ruined field walls, lynchets, and stone clearance heaps, defining cultivation plots about 30.0m x 20.0m average size.
Huts A - D surveyed at 1:10,000.
Visited by OS (N K B) 23 January 1970.

Huts A and E - H surveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (A A) 26 November 1971.

Aerial photographs (RCAHMSAP 1994) reveal at least four further hut-circles at about NH 6499 3803, NH 6507 3836, NH 6462 3860 and NH 6477 3864. The small cairns and field-system cover a much larger area than delimited by the OS, extending as far as the easternmost hut-circle (NH 6507 3836), and for some 200m to the N of the northernmost hut-circle (NH 6477 3864). Fragments of what may be cord rig are visible on the aerial photographs across much of the area, but there are well-defined patches centred on NH 6462 3798, NH 6499 3803 and NH 6465 3855 (this cord rig lies within a field bank).
Information from RCAHMS (DCC) 31 January 1997

The area was photographed from the air by J.S. Bone in 1999 <1> <2>

There appears to be some confusion with the location of 'F' because there is nothing visible on available aerial photographs at the location shown on original Highland Regional SMR 1:10,000 maps (centered NGR 264742 838570), which were derived from original OS material. However, the hut circle noted above by RCAHMS in 1997 at NH 6477 3864 on 1994 aerial photographs as an additional one to those previously recorded, matches the original OS description exactly. A slight caveat to that is that the RCAHMS grid reference is approximately 22m to the north of the centre of the hut circle as it is shown on more recent digital aerial photographs. It does, however, have the field wall on its west side as recorded and described by the OS in 1970-71. As such it is assumed that 'F' as described by the OS and that recorded by RCAHMS at the aforementioned grid reference are the same. There are slight indications on 2020 vertical APs that there may be an annex on its west side, although as in some cases where this kind of feature has been noted elsewhere it could be the remains of an earlier hut circle [IS-L 03/03/2023].

GIS spatial data created in 2023 according to the location of the feature as seen on 2020 vertical APs. <3>

Sources/Archives (4)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NH 6476 3861 (28m by 28m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NH63NW
Civil Parish	INVERNESS AND BONA
Geographical Area	INVERNESS

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