Field Visit
Date 21 October 1974
Event ID 819818
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/819818
NN65NE 7 6659 5796 to 6645 5787.
('A': NN 6659 5798; 'B': NN 6645 5789; 'C': NN 6639 5794) Caistealan Dubha (NR) (Site of) (3 pecked circles shown)
OS 6" map (1861)
(NN 6666 5793) Bunrannoch House on Site of Caistealan Dubha (NR)
OS 6" map (1900)
Two Glen Lyon type homesteads ('A' and 'B') and the remains of at least three hut circles lie on a valley floor with surrounding agricultural remains of several periods (see NN65NE 5).
'A' is visible as a dished hollow surrounded by a roughly circular wall of heather-covered debris spread to 6.0m in width. In the NW arc four contiguous stones of the inner face are visible, and these with one probable inner facing stone in the SE, give an internal diameter of 10.2m. Three widely spaced boulders of the outer wall face protrude through the debris in the S arc, indicating a wall thickness of about 3.0m. A gap in the W with an earthfast block flanking its S side probably denotes the entrance. From the SW arc of the homestead a probably contemporary wall runs W for c.20.0m, then turns N for 22.0m, and then turns E for 38.0m where it ends some 6.0m N of the NE arc of the homestead, thus forming a rectilinear enclosure. A gap in the N side may be a gate way. Immediately outside the SE arc of the homestead is a rectangular hollow which may be the overgrown foundation of a later building (see enlargement).
'B' is visible as a ring of turf-covered debris spread to a maximum of 10.0m in width. Outer facing stones protrude through the debris around the whole of the N half and three others are visible in the S arc giving an overall diameter of 20.2m. There are no definite inner facing stones but there are suggestions in the N arc that the wall was approximately 3.0m thick. The entrance is not evident, but an upright earthfast stone in the SE in the body of the wall may be a door jamb. Ruinous field walls joining the NW and SW arcs are of uncertain date. Intruding into the debris in the SE is a "long-house", one of several forming the deserted village of Bunrannoch (see NN65NE 5).
Hut circle 'A' measures 15.0m NW-SE by 13.0m between the centres of a strong wall spread to 3.5m. The mutilated entrance is in the SE. The interior is partly occupied by a late rectangular building foundation measuring 6.0m x 3.5m.
'B' is of similar proportions but is oriented N-S and is in a poor state of preservation.
'C' is 9.5m NE-SW by 8.0m between the centres of a wall spread to 3.0m. A slight gap in the SW may represent the entrance, but it has been almost blocked by the NE corner of a late "long house".
'D' is a slight oval hollow obscured by heather. It measures c.8.0m E-W by c.6.5m and is 0.3m deep. It is possibly the remains of a hut circle but is in too poor a state to be certain.
There are traces of what may have been another hut circle (c.10.0m diameter) cut through by an old track at NN 6672 5809. The name "Caistealan Dubha" (mis-applied on OS 6" 1900 - and obviously applying to the homesteads which alone are shown on OS 6" 1861), is no longer known locally.
Surveyed at 1:10,000.
Visited by OA (AA) 21 October 1974
