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MHG65758 - Hut circle (B) Kyle of Durness

Summary

Hut (B) has a 6 m internal diameter. The entrance in the south arc, recorded in 1978, is no longer clear.

Type and Period (1)

Protected Status

Full Description

(NC 3728 6349) Hut Circle (NR)
OS 6"map, (1961)

NC 3728 6349. 30m W of the road to Durness on a raised beach a few feet below the road level is a hut circle. It measures 8.5m E-W by 9.5m transversely; its entrance appears to be in the SE. The surrounding bank is 0.6m high and spread to 2.4m. Three metres to the S of it are indications of a circle about 7.0m in diameter but considerably mutilated by quarrying. A few stones denote its perimeter.
Visited by OS (J L D) 6 April 1960.

On a raised beach are two hut circles (A and B) both heather-overgrown. 'A' (published) measures approximately 8.0m in internal diameter and has an entrance in the S; the wall stands up to 0.6m high and is spread to 2.5m.
'B' the other noted 3.0m to the S, measures about 6.0m in diameter within a sparse, indeterminate wall; the entrance is in the S arc. Associated land-use is indicated by a few scattered heaps of stone clearance, some of it against natural rock. No measurable plots are visible.
Surveyed at 1:10,000.
Visited by OS (J M) 17 November 1978.

NW SUT Local Plan, May 1987: P23/2.36.
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.

These two hut circles have been recorded in the NMRS after site visits by OS in 1960 (JLD) and 1978(JM). There is some discrepancy in the measurements offered here to those recorded in the NMRS.
Hut (A) is 8 m by 7 m internally and 11 m by 10 m externally with the bank surviving to a height of 0.6 m minimum.
Hut (B) has a 6 m internal diameter. The entrance in the south arc, recorded in 1978, is no longer clear.
Two clearance heaps were noted c 8 m and c 26 m to the south; they are presumably the associated land-use features noted by OS (1978). Whilst quarrying and road constuction have damaged this site in the past, its present condition appears stable. <1>

NGR adjusted based on 2023 vertical aerial photographs. <2>

Sources/Archives (2)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NC 3728 6348 (16m by 16m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NC36SE
Geographical Area	SUTHERLAND
Civil Parish	DURNESS

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Related Investigations/Events (1)

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