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Tom Buidhe
Bank (Earthwork) (Period Unknown), Island Dwelling (Medieval)(Possible), Rig And Furrow (Medieval) - (Post Medieval)
Site Name Tom Buidhe
Classification Bank (Earthwork) (Period Unknown), Island Dwelling (Medieval)(Possible), Rig And Furrow (Medieval) - (Post Medieval)
Alternative Name(s) Loch Ruthven
Canmore ID 13091
Site Number NH62NW 19
NGR NH 6044 2740
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/13091
- Council Highland
- Parish Dores
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Inverness
- Former County Inverness-shire
Field Visit (11 February 1972)
NH62NW 19 6044 2740
(NH 6044 2740) Tom Bhuidhe (NAT)
OS 6" map, Ross-shire, 2nd ed., (1904)
Tom Bhuidhe, a partly artificial knoll of uncertain classification on the S shore of Loch Ruthven. It comprises a rocky knoll jutting into the loch, which appears to have been brought roughly to level in motte style with the material from a curving ditch which cuts it off from the land to the S. Soil slip in the NE & SW has truncated the original summit area, but it appears to have been sub-oval measuring 36.0m NW-SE by about 30.0m transversely. On its lip in the NW & SE is a slight stony bank, c 0.7m wide & 0.3m high, with immediately inside it a faint trench ( ? palisade trench) 0.5m wide & 0.1m deep. Parallel to this trench in the NW & c 2.0m inside it is a similar trench visible for about 11.0m. Near the centre is outcropping rock & much of the remainder of the summit is disturbed by molehills. The ditch, averaging 12.0m wide & 2.0m deep. has been partly mutilated by modern ploughing. It may origin- ally have been partly water-filled when the loch was high. The level of the loch was lowered when a 'canal' was cut at its W end in the 19th C & the original level is indicated by a raised beach which is approx at the same level as the present base of the ditch. It is possible that the site may have some connection with the nearby crannog. (NH62NW 4) Surveyed at 1/2500
Visited by OS (A A) 11 February 1972.
Field Visit (19 March 1993)
A knoll which may be the site of an island dwelling is situated on the S shore of Loch Ruthven. It is divided from the shore by what is now a dry ditch, but this may be relic of the lowering of the water-level in the loch in the 19th century, when a canal was built at its W end (OS 1972). The knoll does not display any clear evidence of settlement.
The stony bank of insubstantial proportions that runs around the NW and SE quadrants may indicate that the knoll was enclosed, possibly for cultivation since there are some traces of cultivation furrows. An island settlement is shown on Pont's map (Blaeu 1654) and it is not impossible that this was the site of the settlement in question.
Visited by RCAHMS (PJD) 19 March 1993.
Management (2007)
Scheduled as 'Tom Buidhe, enclosure 480m NNE of Ruthven...'
Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 3 March 2007.
