Accessibility

Font Size

100% 150% 200%

Background Colour

Default Contrast
Close Reset

Allt Na Clais Leobairnich

Pen(S) (Period Unassigned), Shieling(S) (Post Medieval)

Site Name Allt Na Clais Leobairnich

Classification Pen(S) (Period Unassigned), Shieling(S) (Post Medieval)

Alternative Name(s) Leobuy; Dunan Beag

Canmore ID 4721

Site Number NC27SE 2

NGR NC 2628 7272

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/4721

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
Canmore Disclaimer. © Copyright and database right 2024.

Toggle Aerial | View on large map

Digital Images

Administrative Areas

  • Council Highland
  • Parish Durness
  • Former Region Highland
  • Former District Sutherland
  • Former County Sutherland

Archaeology Notes

NC27SE 2 NC 2628 7272.

NC 263 727. A settlement of four oval, and one circular, foundations occurs on improved ground inside a bend of Allt na Clais Leobairnich. They range from 4m by 3m to 6m by 4m. The circular foundation overlies a square structure. A village names Leobuy existed here in 1812.

T C Welsh 1972; J Henderson 1812.

NC 2628 7272. A group of at least seven shielings of turf and stone varying from oval, 5.5m by 3.5m to circular, 2.0m in diameter. One of the shielings is overlaid by a later lambing pen. The name cannot be verified from local sources; the 1812 reference to 'Leobuy' is presumably the Anglicised version of the Gaelic 'Leobairnich'.

Surveyed at 1:10,000

Visited by OS (N K B) 28 April 1980.

This site is visible from the road. This consists of a group of scattered boulders but no distinct structural evidence of the 7 shielings. The boulders vary in size from approximately 3m by 2m to 0.5m by 0.5m. One of the largest boulders is seated on a small hill/lump of about 1.5m high (figure 6), on top of which are a number of stone slabs piled into a small pyramid (figure 7). The growth of vegetation on the stone slabs attest to the fact that the pile must have been in place for some time, but the dating of this event is difficult. The whole site is very boggy and therefore may have had an adverse effect on the visibilty of the surviving structures. It is likely that the site is a remnant of the 19th century highland clearances.

Lieu 2000, 3.

NC 26304 72668. Shielings originally identified by the Ordnance Survey in 1980 and visited 2000. The original description lists four oval huts near to the bank on the burn at Allt na Clais Leobairnich. The site described by last year's survey refers to the rocky out crop on the surface of Dunan Beg and not the shielings identified by the ordinance survey. The site was located this year but little evidence was found to suggest the presence of what was found in 1980. The site has been encroached and overgrown by peat bog. The 2001 expedition located the possible remains of shielings and the remains of a stone Lambing Pen and walls. What remained on the site was in a fair condition and was duly recorded. Recorded in plan.

Street 2001, 12.

The shielings identified in the 2000 report appear to be little more than natural rocky outcrops. The shielings that were originally identified in the 1980 OS survey of the are are those of the above photographs. The site is situated near a small burn. Little remains of the site as described by the OS. This is in large due to the growth and spread of the nearby peat bog and surrounding vegetation.

Street 2001, 22.

Activities

Field Visit (May 1972 - August 1972)

Field visit by Dr TC Welsh

Field Visit (28 April 1980)

NC 2628 7272. A group of at least seven shielings of turf and stone varying from oval, 5.5m by 3.5m to circular, 2.0m in diameter. One of the shielings is overlaid by a later lambing pen. The name cannot be verified from local sources; the 1812 reference to 'Leobuy' is presumably the Anglicised version of the Gaelic 'Leobairnich'.

Surveyed at 1:10,000

Visited by OS (N K B) 28 April 1980.

Field Visit (2008)

At least five shieling-huts and a pen are situated in peaty moorland on the N bank of a tributary burn of the Allt na Clais Leobairnich. Three of the huts (CWTC08 15, 17 & 18) are subrectangular on plan, measuring up to 5.6m in length over grass-grown stone wall-footings. Two huts (CWTC08 14 & 16) are represented by stony mounds up to 7m in diameter and 0.7m in height. The latter is overlain by a drystone pen which has an entrance in its SW side.

Welsh's assertion that a village named Leobuy existed here in 1812 is probably based on that name appearing on a map in Henderson’s 'General view of the agriculture of the county of Sutherland….' However, the full name on the map is ‘Aldclas Leobuy' equating to the modern Allt na Clais Leobairnich, and there is no evidence to suggest that the name on Henderson’s map refers to anything other than the stream.

(CWTC08 14–18, 322)

Visited by RCAHMS (JRS, JH) 5 August 2008.

References

MyCanmore Image Contributions


Contribute an Image

MyCanmore Text Contributions