North Uist, Vallay Strand, Eileann Maleit

Earth-house, Eilean Maleit, Vallay Strand.

Near the south-west edge of Vallay Strand, about ¼ mile east of Cnoc a Comhdhalach and 30 yards from the shore, is a tidal islet connected with the mainland by a causeway about 5 feet in width. The islet stands about 12 feet in height above the Strand, its northern face being steep and rocky. There are s1ight indications of a wall along the southern edge from which it is accessible. Part of the summit of the islet is occupied by the remains of a circular structure divided internally by radial walls as in the neighbouring earth-house at Cnoc a Comhdhalach (NF77SE 3).The circular interior area measures about 24 feet in diameter, and is surrounded by a wall varying from 5 to 12 feet in width. The internal court has been divided into at least eight compartments by short radial walls leaving an irregular oval space in the centre about 12 feet at most in length. Within the southern arc are three short radiating walls each stopping short before the outer wall is reached. On the west two short parallel walls project towards the interior. On the northern arc there are two intercommunicating chambers formed by radiating walls, but these differ from the chambers on the opposite side as the inner ends are built up.

The main entrance to the structure has been to the north-west. It is slightly curved and measures 14 feet in length by about 2 feet 9inches in width. There seem to have been two other entrances, one from the north and the other from the west apparently built through additions to the main building. Within this thickening of the wall on the south-west, seven irregularly shaped cells have been built, of which four measure from 3 to 4 feet across while the others extend to a length of from 6 to 12 feet. Each of the larger cells is provided with a narrow doorway from the exterior. The addition on the north side is traversed by the tortuous southern entrance, which measures from 1 ½ to 2 feet in width. In its course it passes through an irregular oblong chamber measuring about 12 feet in length and 6 feet in width, and then through two smaller cells measuring about 3 to 4 feet in width. Pottery on Fig. 150.

RCAHMS 1928, visited 28 June 1914

OS map: North Uist xxx (unnoted).

NF77 5 EILEAN MALEIT

NF/772747

This probable above-ground aisled wheelhouse (pron. 'Ellen Malitch'), with other small buildings clustered round it in North Uist, is another of the sites explored by Beveridge on his estate on Vallay in the early years of the 20th century and the report on which is brief by modern standards [2]. Limited re-excavation was under-taken in 1995 [6].

Beveridge’s work

The site is on s small island (Eilean Maleit) about 10m from the shore and connected to it by a causeway [6, Illus. 2]. The main building seems to have been a near-circular, free-standing aisled wheelhouse with a rubble-cored stone wall about 2.14m (7 ft) thick at the entrance and less elsewhere. The plan suggests that there were some intra-mural spaces but the nature of these must be uncertain without further excavation. The internal diameter was about 6.71 - 8.24m (22-27 ft) and that of the central area (inside the pier ends) 3.36 - 3.66m (11-12 ft). Five free-standing piers remained with lengths of from 1.07 - 1.83m (3.5 - 6 ft) and the two on the north side were founded directly on a shelf of rock. The width of the 'aisle' varied from 31 - 71cm (12 - 28 in) and there had probably been eight or nine piers originally. No central hearth was located. The entrance passage, 4.27m (14 ft) long, was on the north-north-west. There seemed to be an external stone hut on the north side, backing against the main wall and apparently reached through a wall cavity. There were also a number of presumably secondary structures on the north side.

The 1995 excavation

A re-survey of the structural remains showed a reasonably good correspond-ence with Beveridge’s plan, with the except that the enclosed area was markedly D-shaped rather than circular. Also the entrance appears to have been in the west-south-west rather than the north-west. Traces of a probable mural gallery about 1m wide can still be seen.

A trench inside the wheelhouse showed that it was a secondary construction, built inside the ruins of what is probably a broch, although few details about this primary building could be made out. No finds are recorded from the recent work.

Beveridge’s finds [2, pl. next p. 213: 6]. The pottery included many sherds, one apparently an Everted Rim vessel with neck-band decoration – that is, an applied cordon pressed into loops into the angle of the rim. Another sherd has a raised, running S-scroll and a third has an incised pattern of triangles and hatching over an applied zig-zag cordon; the last looks like a Balevullin vase. Also in the National Museums collection is a wall sherd with a zig-zag applied cordon with a pattern of incised lines above it, presumably from an elaborately decorated Balevullin vase; it is remarkably similar to vessels from the Broch of Ayre in Orkney (HY40 1), and of course from Foshigarry (NF77 6)

Fired clay: 1 spindle whorl made from a cut-down sherd [2, ibid.].

Stone: 1 schist disc 32mm (1.25 in) in diameter, 1 hammerstone, and 1 lump of pumice.

Sources: 1. NMRS site no. NF77SE 5: 2. Beveridge 2001, 212-13: 3. RCAHMS 1928, 68, no. 212: 4. Scott 1948 72-3: 5. Armit 1992, 58: 6. Armit 1998: 7. Crawford 2002.

E W MacKie 2007