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MHG820 - Hut circles - Allt Bad A'Choilich

Summary

Two hut circles near the Allt Bad A'Choilich.

Type and Period (1)

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Full Description

Two hut circles near the Allt Bad A'Choilich. Recorded by the OS as 'A' and 'B'. See MHG39439 for the 'aisled homestead' 'C'.

On an E-facing slope in open moorland, are two hut circles (A and B) and an enclosure (C).

'A' is heavily overgrown with heather and peat, and there is little exposure of stone in the wall. It is 9m in diameter within a wall, 0.4m average height, spread to 2m. There are two gaps in the SE arc.

'B' is better preserved, set into the slope with a back-scarp 1m high, and measures 10.5m NW-SE by 7.5m transversely within a wall spread to 2m in the SW, 4m in the NE, and 4.5m at the entrance in SE. One or two facing-stones and rubble core are visible intermittently through the dense heather.

Enclosure 'C' is subrectangular, aligned E-W down the gentle slope. It measures about 16 by 5m within a heather-covered wall 0.5m high and spread to 2m. Some rubble stone is exposed in the wall, but there are no facing-stones visible and no evidence of internal structures. The lower € end appears to be open, and there is a gap along the W side. The enclosure is deep-set into the peat and heather like the hut circles, suggesting considerable antiquity, and the mode of construction, as far as it can be interpreted, is also similar. There is no trace of early-modern occupation in the vicinity. It may be a dwelling broadly contemporary with the hut circles and similar in function to the rectangular aisled homesteads common to Caithness (see ND02NW 2), but lacking the upright stone supports for a roof. See ND02SE 24 for a similar feature. There is no trace of associated cultivation.
Surveyed at 1:10,000. Visited by OS (NKB) 8 November 1982

GIS spatial data amended in 2024 according to location of features as seen on 2009 vertical aerial photographs. <1>

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Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred ND 0967 2398 (53m by 47m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	ND02SE
Civil Parish	LATHERON
Geographical Area	CAITHNESS

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