RCAHMS Special Survey, Pabbay (Harris)

Date 25 June 2011 - 28 June 2011

Event ID 932366

Category Project

Type Project

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/932366

2011 RCAHMS Special Survey

An archaeological walk-over survey of the island of Pabbay (Harris) was undertaken by G F Geddes (RCAHMS) in order to provide comparative material for the publication of the survey of St Kilda (Gannon and Geddes 2015). The survey included a re-assessment of 9 known archaeological sites, as well as the discovery of 31 previously unrecorded sites, some of which comprise numerous individual structures. Measured survey was limited to a plane-table survey of the church, chapel and graveyard at 1:100, while 87 digital images were captured. Desk-based research included a study of vertical aerial photography, historic maps and secondary sources.

The survey noted the presence of additional prehistoric monuments, as well as a broad range of medieval and post medieval structures, including tacksmans’ houses, kiln-barns, storage pits and shieling huts. Field systems are extensive and include large areas of lazy-bedding and crofts. Some of the buildings and crofts are certainly examples of agricultural improvements that were attempted before the transformation of the island into a sheep farm in the middle of the 19th century.

Information from RCAHMS (GFG), 2018.