Field Visit
Date 20 February 1970
Event ID 662021
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/662021
NH63SW 52 604 311.
Centred at NH 604 311 on the generally S-facing slopes of a hill named Torr an Daimh, is a settlement of four stone-walled huts (A - D) and an associated field system.
Huts A, B, and C are oval, each with an entrance in the E through the longer axis, and D, the best preserved, is circular, also with an entrance in the E arc.
Hut 'A', built up on an E-facing slope, measures c. 12.5m E-W by c. 11.0m N-S between the centres of a wall spread to c. 2.5m on the upper W arc, increasing to c. 3.5m at the ill-defined entrance in the lower E arc. This increase in width is due to build-up, rather than a "clubbed" entrance. Part of the outer face of contiguous stones is visible around the N and W arcs.
Huts 'B' and 'C' are identical except the 'B' has an excavation in its centre. Each measures c. 13.5m E-W by c. 12.5m between the centres of a wall spread to c. 3.5m all round, with a splayed entrance measuring 1.5m wide internally, increasing to c. 3.0m externally. Some 5.0m to the NW of 'B' are the footings of a later rectangular building, measuring 11.0m x 5.0m. A track skirts the NW side of hut 'C'.
'D' is 10.4m in diameter within a double wall with rubble core. Both inner and outer faces of contiguous stones set on edge are visible for most of the periphery giving a wall thickness of 1.3m all round. On the N side the hut wall incorporates a boulder which extends through the whole width of the wall. The entrance, c. 1.4m wide, is obscured by tumbled stone, but does not appear to be splayed. Flanking the inner side are two blocks, possibly portal stones, though the N one may not be in situ. A field wall extends from the W arc.
The field system comprises field walls, lynchets, and stone clearance heaps forming cultivation plots, one of which, between huts 'C' and 'D', measures 35.0m x 20.0m. The walls occur predominantly in the vicinity of hut 'D', suggesting that it is not contemporary with the others, although there is no obvious boundary between the areas of cultivation.
Visited by OS (N K B) 20 February 1970.
