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MHG66270 - Landing point/ramp - Airdtorrisdale

Summary

A possible landing-place or access-ramp.

Type and Period (2)

Protected Status

Full Description

This township comprises forty-three roofed buildings and eight unroofed structures as it is depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Sutherland 1878, sheet xvii). Twenty-four unroofed buildings, two roofed buildings, and five unroofed structures are depicted on the current edition of the OS 1:10,560 map (1964).
Information from RCAHMS (SAH) 15 August 1995

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.

Within the revetment of the west side of the bay, approximately 60 m from the burial-ground, is a possible landing-place or access-ramp. This feature is built into the revetment and is 3.5 m wide and 3 m long with a sloped, paved surface creating a ramp up to the fields above or, from there, to the coast below. The area between this feature and the coast is heavily-eroded turf. It would appear that it would have to be a very high-tide for this to work as a landing-place, so it may have served to bring wheeled-transport, possibly either seaweed- or seafood-carrying carts, from the beach up to the fields or to take goods down to a place where a boat could land more frequently. The sheltered beach in this bay was once used for the export of salmon and beef, which had been salted and packed in barrels made by coopers who worked in this area during the summer months (Beaton 1995, 85). It is possible that this feature was used as part of this process. There is another gap through the revetment 40 m to the east of this, which could be a ruined example of the same type of feature. To be surveyed as part of the township <1>

NGR adjusted based on 1999-2001 vertical aerial photographs. <2>

Sources/Archives (2)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NC 6784 6205 (10m by 17m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NC66SE
Geographical Area	SUTHERLAND
Civil Parish	TONGUE

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Investigations/Events (1)

External Links (1)