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Field Visit
Date 20 April 2000 - 3 May 2000
Event ID 1171417
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1171417
NN63NW 21 centred 61362 39252.
This large group of structures, comprising at least thirty-three huts, three enclosures and a possible still stand at about 630m OD on the banks of the Burn of Edramucky, disposed across hummocky moraine in an area measuring about 250m by 150m. Most of this ground is enclosed within the modern deer fence around the National Trust for Scotland's Ben Lawers Nature Trail, but three huts at the NE edge of the group (BL00 493-4, 805) and the possible still (BL00 804) stand outwith the enclosure.
The huts are mostly rectangular on plan, though a few of the smaller ones appear to be roughly circular. They can be divided into three types on the basis of their wall construction. Two huts have walls entirely of rubble, at least eleven have an internal stone facing encased in an outer shell or embankment of turf, and thirteen are built largely or entirely of turf. The remaining seven huts have collapsed or overgrown walls containing some stone, and may belong to any of the three groups. There appears to be a difference in size between the two most common types, the turf-embanked huts and the turf ones. The former tend to be larger - nine of the thirteen largest huts (those measuring between 4.2m and 6.4m in length) are of this type, while ten of the fifteen smallest huts (between 1m and 2.1m in length) are turf built. The turf-embanked huts also display elaborations not found amongst the turf examples - five of them have aumbries set into their walls (though, of course, such features are unlikely to be survive in turf walls), one (BL00 422) has an upright slab within and to one side of the entrance, probably the backstone of a hearth, and six of them have turf mounds, probably middens, outside their entrances.
The three enclosures range in size from 4m by 4m within stony banks up to 14m by 8m. Finally, the possible still is set into the E bank of the burn at the NE edge of the group (BL00 804; NN 61513 39343). It measures 3.3m in length by at least 1.3m in breadth within rubble walls up to 0.7m high, and is open to the burn along its NW side.
(BL00 403-14, 416-26, 493-9, 800-5)
Visited by RCAHMS (MFTR) 20 April and 3 May 2000
