Suisnish, Raasay
Clearance Cairn(S) (Period Unknown)
Site Name Suisnish, Raasay
Classification Clearance Cairn(S) (Period Unknown)
Canmore ID 11485
Site Number NG53SE 4
NGR NG 5576 3481
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/11485
- Council Highland
- Parish Portree
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Skye And Lochalsh
- Former County Inverness-shire
Field Visit (22 May 1914)
Cairns, Suisnish, Raasay.
Immediately to the east of the tramway to the iron mines on the island of Raasay, about 500 yards north-east of the pier at Suisnish, on a heather covered,gently sloping hillside at an elevation of 200 feet above sea-level, is a group of four small stone cairns buried in peat. The largest cairn, which lies 100 feet from the tramway, is 18 feet in diameter and 3 feet in height ; 11 yards to the south-east is the smallest, 12 feet in diameter and about 2 feet in height; 30 yards to the east-north-east is the third, 14 feet in diameter and 2 feet in height, and about the same distance to the north is the fourth, measuring 16 feet in diameter and 2 feet in height. As this last cairn encroaches on the line of the tramway a narrow trench has been cut through it near the edge, showing the structure of the mound. It is formed entirely of stones without any admixture of soil, and is covered with a growth of peat 1 foot thick. About 100 yards to the east, beyond a slight ridge, on both sides of a hollow, is a larger group of similar cairns. At least ten can be counted, several of them occurring in pairs about 9 feet apart. They measure from 14 to 16 feet in diameter and from 2 to 2 ½ feet in height.
RCAHMS 1928, visited 22 May 1914.
OS map: Skye xxxv (unnoted).
Field Visit (29 June 1961)
NG53SE 4 558 348
Probable field clearance heaps.
Visited by OS 29 June 1961.
Field Visit (April 2008)
The survey of the following sites was carried out in April 2008 as part of a continuing programme to record the
physical remains of human activity on the Island of Raasay.
NG 5610 3489 (centred on) – Cairn field Situated at a height of 60m OD on the gently rising slope of Suisnish Hill
to the E of the disused railway line. There are a total of 36 cairns plus a number of possible cairns. Also in the area are a number of small sheiling huts. In the RCAHMS notes of 1928, referring to a visit in 1914, (NG53SE 4) the cairn field is briefly described.
Report: RCAHMS
Funder: Glasgow Archaeological Society and The Robert Kiln Charitable Trust
J Macdonald and S Scott Wood – ACFA
