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MHG65755 - Hut circle (B) - Kyle of Durness

Summary

Only the west segment of what appears to be a bank of earth and stone remains.

Type and Period (1)

Protected Status

Full Description

NC36SE 4 3719 6327 to 3721 6329.

(A: NC 3719 6327; B: NC 3721 6329) Hut Circles (NR)
OS 6"map, (1961)

A: NC 3719 6327. About 28m W of the road to Durness is a hut circle measuring 9.0m by 9.5m, situated upon a raised beach a few feet below the roadside. It has been considerably mutilated, and virtually only a course of stones denotes its plan; but on the W side there is a slight bank of earth and stones with a stone revetment 0.7m high. A small quarry has mutilated the E side. The interior contains a scatter of stones from the former bank. The entrance is not apparent.
B: NC 3721 6329. Forty metres NE of 'A' are the remains of another probable hut circle. Only the W segment of what appears to be a bank of earth and stone remains. The E part of the circle has been cut and destroyed by the road. The circle has measured about 12m in diameter and the bank is 3.5m broad and 0.5m high. A quarry is situated immediately opposite the site on the other side of the road and it is possible that the circle may only be part of this quarry.
Visited by OS (J L D) 6 April 1960.

The hut circle at NC 3719 6327 measures about 9.5m in diameter overall but otherwise as described. At NC 3721 6329 is undoubtedly the west half of a hut circle, the E half having been buried under the road embankment. It would have measured about 9.0m in internal diameter. The wall, turf-covered and incorporating rock outcrop, stands to 0.4m high and is spread to 2.5m broad. The W side of an entrance is indicated in the S arc adjoining the road embankment. Associated land use is denoted by two or three scattered heaps of stone clearance, but no plots are visible. Visited by OS (J M) 16 November 1978.

NW SUT Local Plan, May 1987: 2.36.
J Aitken : 11/06/01.

A rapid coastal zone assessment survey was conducted by GUARD in the Autumn of 1997 commissioned by Historic Scotland from the Viking and Early Settlement Archaeological Research Project based at the University of Glasgow.

Hut (B) is largely as described in the NMRS after site visits by OS in 1960 (JLD) and 1978 (JM). This hut-circle has a 14.5-15 m external diameter (contra 1960 and 1978 NMRS entries). The bank is 3.5 m wide and 0.5 m high (both contra 1978 NMRS entry). The structure has been substantially obliterated/destroyed by the road embankment to the east. Approximately 30 m to the west are 2 amorphous, stony mounds, 2¬3 m in diameter. This is presumably the stone clearance noted in the OS (1978) entry. Whilst quarrying and road construction have damaged this site in the past, its present condition appears stable.<1>

NGR adjusted based on 2009 vertical aerial photographs. <2>

Sources/Archives (2)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NC 3720 6330 (19m by 19m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NC36SE
Geographical Area	SUTHERLAND
Civil Parish	DURNESS

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