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MHG9346 - Souterrain - Suisgill Bridge (Suisgill III)

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Full Description

A souterrain was discovered and disturbed during preliminary work on the realignment of the A897 at Suisgill Bridge in 1978. On subsequent examination by G. Barclay in 1980 it was found to be cruciform on plan, with the entrance to the north, a large chamber to the south, and smaller chambers to the east and west.

During the excavation of the adjacent settlement by the Central Exavation Unit in 1980-1, the machine pit which had originally revealed the souterrain was re-excavated. An area 5 m by 6 m was opened over the passage (Area F). Once the roof of the passage was revealed it was decided that one of the roofing slabs should be removed to allow access into the soil-free space below. The souterrain was cruciform in shape; entry during the excavation was gained through the roof of the northwest side-passage. A similar side passage extended to the southeast. From the junction two further passages extended; one, broadening and curving slightly to the north was the main chamber. The other, completely soil-filled, its roof slabs rising to the surface to the west, was apparently the entrance. Sterile loam, largely introduced through the entrance, had filled all the chambers to some extent. The entrance passage was completely blocked. From the junction of the passages the fill sloped down into the three subsidiary chambers; the two side chambers were filled to within 50 cm of their roofs; the main chamber was filled to any great depth only near its entrance. Elsewhere in the main chamber probing showed a fill only 30 cm deep. A proportion of the fill had found its way through the wall of the souterrain by water percolation and the activities of rodents and roots. At the level of the top of the fill, the side passage measured between 60 cm and 80 cm broad. The north-west passage was 2.45 m long, the south-east passage measured 1.8 m long from the intersection. However, the passages were clearly broadening rapidly towards their bottom. The main chamber measured approximately 4.5 m from the intersection and was a maximum of 1.4 m high; as noted above, this chamber was a further 30 cm deep in soil fill. The entrance passage was approximately 60 cm across at the intersection; traces of this passage on the surface were noted for 4 m to the north. The structure was built of slabs and blocks topped by very large roofing slabs; the main chamber was almost entirely roofed by two slabs. On the surface two features were noted. The roof and wall-tops of the entrance passage have been mentioned above. The entrance passage led towards the eastern corner of the trench where, to the northwest, a line of stones, perhaps the remnants of a low wall, were found. It is possible that a stone-walled hut associated with the souterrain is represented by this feature. A charcoal sample was recovered from a small sondage dug through the shallow fill of the main chamber; unfortunately the radiocarbon assay obtained had a standard deviation too large to be of use. <1> <2>

The souterrain appears to be intact and unaffected by roadworks, but entry is prevented by a recently positioned drain-cover and concrete surround.
Surveyed at 1:10,000. Visited by OS 30 October 1981.

The finds from the 1980-81 excavations were deposited in Inverness Museum. <3> <4>

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Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NC 8973 2505 (40m by 40m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NC82NE
Geographical Area	SUTHERLAND
Civil Parish	KILDONAN

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