Skye, Diubaig
Hut Circle (Prehistoric), Township (Post Medieval)
Site Name Skye, Diubaig
Classification Hut Circle (Prehistoric), Township (Post Medieval)
Canmore ID 11176
Site Number NG35SW 4
NGR NG 324 541
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/11176
- Council Highland
- Parish Duirinish
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Skye And Lochalsh
- Former County Inverness-shire
Field Visit (1960 - 1961)
NG35SW 4 324 541.
(Area NG 325 542) Diubaig: shown as township in 1824, (W Johnson's Map of Skye, 1824) nearly deserted (two buildings only roofed) 1875-1904, (OS 6"map, Inverness-shire, 1st and 2nd eds., {1875, 1904}) totally deserted by 1946. (Visible on RAF air photographs CPE/Scot/UK/175: 2297-8).
Visited by OS (AC) 19 December 1960.
Diubaig: a depopulated township consisting of 6 ruined houses. There are a couple of outbuildings and two small enclosures. (See also NG35SW 5)
Visited by OS (ASP) 2 May 1961.
Field Visit (19 November 1990)
The buildings of the township of Diubaig are spread in four clusters over a distance of about 1km SW of the head of Loch Diubaig (see also NG35SW 5). Around them there were the remains of fields and lazy-beds, but most of these have been lost in the forestry that has been planted in the glen that runs back from the head of the loch.
The north-easternmost cluster occupies terraces on the NW side of the glen overlooking the head of the loch and comprises at least eleven buildings; a hut-circle (NG35SW 4.01) is set on a terrace at the NE end of the cluster. The buildings are in varying states, the best preserved being the gabled shepherd's cottage, which is shown roofed on the 2nd edition of the Ordnance Survey map of 1904 (Island of Skye &c., Inverness-shire, 1904, sheet xvi). The outhouse to the S, which has a gable and a thick battered wall, has been built out of the N end of a larger building; the latter is shown roofed on the 1st edition of the Ordnance Survey map of 1880 (Island of Skye &c., Inverness-shire, 1880, sheet xvi) and is presumably an earlier shepherd's cottage. The remaining buildings were all abandoned by 1880. They range from 4m to 16.8m in length and from 2.6m to 4.3m in breadth and two have attached enclosures. Several show evidence of multi-period construction and at least one appears to overlie an earlier building (NG 3235 5410).
Diubaig is first documented as a farm leased to Donald Macleod in 1683 at 120 merks (R C Macleod 1928, Vol.I), but is not listed in the
1708 rental (ibid 1929 Vol II).
(WAT90 951-3; 1413-1417; 1419-23)
Visited by RCAHMS (SPH) 19 November 1990.
Note (17 October 1996)
A township, comprising two roofed buildings, one partially roofed building, four unroofed buildings and three enclosures is depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch (Inverness-shire, Isle of Skye 1881, sheet xvi). Seven unroofed buildings and two enclosures are shown on the current edition of the OS 1:10560 map (1969).
Information from RCAHMS (AKK) 17 October 1996.
