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Archaeology Notes
Event ID 800605
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Archaeology Notes
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/800605
NB12SE 1 1638 2334.
A number of ruined shielings, built of peat moss sods and stones. {Name Book compiled 1851.} (OS 1:10,000 map, 1973 shows three stylised shieling-huts at NB 1633 2337, NB 1637 2333 and NB 1634 2326.)
Name Book 1851.
(Scheduled as Airigh a'Sguir, beehive shielings). The monument consists of a group of beehive shieling huts. These particular examples at Loch a'Sguair may be of considerable age although they may have been reused and repaired seasonally until the late 19th-century. Two huts are situated in a small valley sheltered between two outcrops. A third hut is located 70m to the SW of these in a more exposed location. There is another hut to the N. One of the central pair remains intact. Its corbelled roof still has a covering of turf. The building has an exterior kerb or "fosgarlan", a word derived from the Norse "for skali" meaning a porch. This is an extension of the main wall which projects outwards in a horseshoe shape to shield the low entrance in the SE from the direct force of the wind. Overall the exterior diameter of the structure is about 7m. The interior is solidly constructed on the lower courses. The stones are large, well fitted and there are small storage niches at regular intervals at ground level. The floor is of earth. The upper levels appear to have been repaired. The interior diameter is c.2.4m and the height at the centre is 1.7m. The other three huts are of similar drystone construction but are less well preserved. They lack their corbelled roofs and protective turf skins.
Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 6 April 1992.
What may be five unroofed shieling-huts, annotated as Ruins, and an enclosure are depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Ross-shire, Island of Lewis 1854, sheet 30). Three unroofed buildings shown on the current edition of the OS 1:10000 map (1973).
Information from RCAHMS (SAH) 14 August 1997
