Scheduled Maintenance
Please be advised that this website will undergo scheduled maintenance on the following dates: •
Tuesday 3rd December 11:00-15:00
During these times, some services may be temporarily unavailable. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
North Uist, Clachan, Cringraval
Chambered Cairn (Neolithic)(Possible), Marker Cairn (Modern), Roundhouse (Prehistoric)(Possible), Shieling Hut(S) (Post Medieval)
Site Name North Uist, Clachan, Cringraval
Classification Chambered Cairn (Neolithic)(Possible), Marker Cairn (Modern), Roundhouse (Prehistoric)(Possible), Shieling Hut(S) (Post Medieval)
Canmore ID 10262
Site Number NF86SW 21
NGR NF 81519 64525
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/10262
- Council Western Isles
- Parish North Uist
- Former Region Western Isles Islands Area
- Former District Western Isles
- Former County Inverness-shire
NF86SW 21 8152 6451
(NF 8154 6451) Standing Stone (NR)
OS 6" map, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1904)
Although shown by the OS as a standing stone and thought by Beveridge (E Beveridge 1911) to be a chambered cairn, Henshall regards this antiquity as more likely to be a ruined circular house.
Stone walls stand 1ft 6ins above the level of the surrounding peat; outside diameter 31-34ft and interior 17-20ft. Several displaced slabs lie on the east side where was probably the entrance. Outside to the WSW is a probable well, with a length of walling running towards it (Information from MS of A S Henshall's 'Chambered Tombs of Scotland', Vol. 2, 33).
The two large parallel slabs (Standing Stone - OS) set on edge outside the structure to the E and thought by Beveridge to be part of an entrance chamber, are considered by Henshall to be inexplicable in either interpretation of the monument: there is no evidence of the extensive robbing from the centre of the site which the cairn theory pre-supposes.
E Beveridge 1911; Visited by OS (D S and F R) 22 July 1956.
NF 8152 6451. The grass-covered remains of this probable cairn, measuring 10.5m NW to SE by 9.0m transversely, survive to a height of 0.6m Several large slabs of stone lie immediately outside the E periphery, and a further two earthfast parallel slabs measuring 1.5m x 1.9m x 0.3m and 0.9m x 1.1m x 0.2m respectively, are all possibly spoil from the chamber. Numerous other stones were found outside the probable entrance in the E side of the cairn.
No trace was found of the well mentioned by A S Henshall, and only two small earthfast stones were seen of the 'walling' running to the west side of the cairn. Two small oval cells - probably shielings - were seen in the central area of the cairn and obviously post-date it.
A modern cairn, c. 2.0m high, has been built on the N arc.
From its position, it is more likely to be a cairn than a ruined circular house as suggested by Henshall.
Surveyed at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (R B), 17 June 1965.
Field Visit (12 September 1914)
Chambered Cairn (ruined), Cringraval, Clachan.
About 8 ½ miles south-west of Lochmaddy, on the summit of Cringraval, a small hill rising to a height of 129 feet above sea level, immediately to the north-east of Clachan, is a very dilapidated chambered cairn, all that remains being a ring of stones 40 to 43 feet in diameter externally and 4 feet in height; not only has the cairn been reduced in height, but the central portion has been removed. Five large slabs or blocks lie near its eastern margin, two of which measure 5 feet 4 inches by 3 feet 2 inches by 1 foot 4 inches and 5 feet by 3 feet6 inches by 1 foot respectively. Outside the heap to the east-north-east are two large slabs set on edge tilted to the north almost parallel to each other at a distance of 5 feet 6 inches apart, the southern slab being 6 feet 6 inches long, 5 feet 1 inch high, and 1 foot thick, while the other is 3 feet 8 inches long, 3 feet 3 inches high, and 8 inches thick. While these slabs have much the appearance of part of a chamber or entrance passage, the angle at which they are placed runs not towards the centre but towards the present southern edge of the cairn. About 15 yards to the west-south-west at the bottom of a peat bank is a section of a low, loose wall of stones running directly under the peat towards the cairn. A length of 6 feet is exposed, which is about 2 feet broad and 2 feet high.
RCAHMS 1928, visited 12 September 1914.
OS map: North Uist xxxix (unnoted)
Change Of Classification (24 September 2010)
Field Visit (24 September 2010)
Although doubts persist about the classification of this monument, the visible remains are more or less as described by Henshall and her interpretation as a ruinous circular building seems the most fitting. Roughly circular on plan, it measures 9.7m from N to S by 9.2m transversely over a stony bank spread up to 1.8m in thickness and up to 0.5m in height. An upright stone on the E coincides with a gap in the bank and probably forms the N side of the entrance. There are several other large stones still visible, one of which is earthfast and set radially to the bank. A modern marker cairn overlies the bank on the NW, and the interior is boggy and filled with reeds. Two stones lie outside the enclosure on the E, and are set parallel to each other, both aligned ENE and WSW and leaning NNW at the same angle; their purpose is unknown. All that can be seen of the supposed well to the WSW is one boulder and a puddle of water amongst the reeds.
Visited by RCAHMS (ARG,SPH) 24 September 2010
Field Visit (2012)
NF 81568 64639 (centred on) Site 202/CGL11 consists of a sub-circular, grass covered mound c11 x 10m, with a number of large irregular shaped stone boulders measuring c1 x 2 x 0.5m. Towards the E edge of the mound there is an alignment of upright stone boulders, including two parallel stones, measuring up to 2.5 x 1.0 x 0.4m, which appear to form an entrance passage. A modern cairn has been built on top of the mound at its NW edge and two later shielings are located in the middle of the mound. The site has previously been recorded as a chambered cairn and as a circular dwelling (NF86SW 21). While the nature and date of the site remain uncertain, it is possible that the remains represent a Neolithic chambered cairn later remodelled as an Iron Age dwelling.
Archive and report: RCAHMS (intended). Report: CNES SMR
Funder: North Uist Partnership
Kate MacDonald, Uist Archaeology
Rebecca Rennell,
2012
