Achiltibuie

NC00NW 24.01 centred on 0251 0838

There are twenty-nine roofless buildings and three huts situated within the crofts of Achiltibuie which lie on either side of the public road.

Most of the buildings (ACHIL94 230-232, 246, 248, 302, 303, 306, 307, 309-313, 315, 317) are shown as roofed on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Cromartyshire 1881, sheets iii, iiiA) and, in some cases, were roofed at the date of the current edition of the 1:10000 map (1971). Four of the buildings (ACHIL94 233, 235, 237, 238, NC00NW 26.02) are depicted on the 1st edition map as unroofed and are potentially earlier than the crofting settlement.

The buildings are all rectangular and range in size from 4m by 2.9m (ACHIL94 307) to 14.7m by 4.1m (ACHIL94 244) within faced-rubble walls up to 0.9m in thickness and 3m in height. Seven buildings (ACHIL94 232, 240, 246, 248, 302, 303, 311) have windows and a fireplace, suggesting that they may have been dwellings. Of these, one building (ACHIL94 303) has covered drains running out of the entrance of the main part of the building and an outshot, suggesting that it has also been a byre. One building with opposed entrances (ACHIL94 230) may have been a barn, while stone-built stack-stands are visible in enclosures adjacent to two of the buildings (ACHIL94 236, 311). Cruck slots were visible in the walls of two buildings (ACHIL94 241, 311).

Also within the crofts, there are the remains of three rectangular huts (ACHIL94 304, 305, 308) which measure between 2.9m by 1.7m (ACHIL94 308) and 4.4m by 2.1m (ACHIL94 305) within footings up to 0.6m in thickness and 0.4m in height.

The croft boundaries show some minor changes between the date of the 1st edition map and the current OS 1:10000 map. Very faint and fragmented traces of ridging can be made out within the crofts, most of which have been improved.

Roy (1747-55) depicts two settlements at about NC 025 080 and NC 024 076, labelled as Killbuy. May survey of Coigach (1758, SRO RHP 85395) also shows two settlements but places one in a different place to Roy, in a location which has more credence. May's N settlement, at about NC 023 087, is labelled 'Aicheltibuie', while the S settlement (NC 025 080) is labelled 'Subtennants of Acheltibuie' and may correspond to the potentially pre-crofting buildings (NC00NW 24.02).

(ACHIL94 230-232, 234, 236, 239-246, 302-313, 315, 317)

Visited by RCAHMS (DCC) 22 June 1994

W Roy 1747-55