Kyleoag
Chambered Cairn (Neolithic)
Site Name Kyleoag
Classification Chambered Cairn (Neolithic)
Canmore ID 13989
Site Number NH69SE 3
NGR NH 6628 9112
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/13989
- Council Highland
- Parish Creich (Sutherland)
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Sutherland
- Former County Sutherland
NH69SE 3 6628 9112.
(NH 6628 9112) Chambered Cairn (NR)
OS 1:10,000 map, (1971)
Kyleoag: A round cairn of the Orkney-Cromarty group, with a polygonal chamber. It may have been horned. Of naked stones, it stands on a sloping site on the hillside. The edges are indefinite and overgrown; it is curtailed on the NE by a wall and has spread down the slope to the SW. The present appearance suggests a round cairn, and there are no very certain signs of horns. However, the RCAHMS, who saw the site in 1909 (RCAHMS 1911) before the opening of the chamber, writes '. . on the NW and S there are indications of projecting horns, but the growth of bracken and other vegetation obscures details. The horn towards the S appears to project for 10ft and to be about 15ft wide at the base..' Seen from the SW, the cairn is impressive, still having a height of about 10ft.
RCAHMS 1911; A S Henshall 1963.
The remains of this chambered cairn are as described above. It is 14.0m NE-SW by 16.0m transversely, and has a maximum height of 3.0m.
Visited by OS (W D J) 13 June 1963.
No change to the previous reports.
Revised at 1:10,000.
Visited by OS (N K B) 19 September 1980.
This chambered cairn was visited during the course of a forestry survey by Headland Archaeology (NMRS MS 899/25, no.4). The cairn is as described by previous authorities although a fence has been erected close to its N and E sides. Birch trees have been felled within the chamber and logs stacked beside the cairn whilst trees have been planted close up to the S and W sides of the cairn. A way marker has been erected beside the cairn as part of a heritage trail.
S Carter and J Wordsworth (Headland Archaeology) 5 February 1997; NMRS MS 899/25, no.4
NH 66 90 (centre) A short-notice forestry survey was undertaken by Headland Archaeology Ltd over roughly 7.5sq km of land to the W of Spinningdale on the northern shore of the Dornoch Firth. A total of 28 features or groups of features of archaeological interest were recorded, 19 of which had previously been noted. The majority are post-medieval settlement sites (buildings, farmsteads and settlement sites) recorded first by the OS in 1874. The survey area and its immediate environs contain a notable concentration of chambered cairns, and a further example was discovered. This new site is heavily robbed but appears to be of a similar size and chamber type to the other examples in the area.
NH 6628 9112 Chambered cairn. (NMRS NH69SE 3)
Sponsor: Historic Scotland
S Carter 1997
Field Visit (23 July 1909)
83. Chambered Cairn, Kyleoag.
About 200 yards NE. of Kyleoag, at the upper end of an open area in the wood, is a large cairn. Its exact outline is difficult to determine, but its diameter at right angles to a large triangular block, apparently a lintel, is 57', and across the supposed chamber in rear of it 50'. On the NW. and S. there are indications of projecting horns, but the growth of bracken and other vegetation obscures details. The horn towards the S. appears to project for about 10', and to be about 15' wide at base. On the E. a stone dyke has been built close to the cairn. At 10' in from the edge, on the S. side, lies a large block, triangular in section, 10' 6" in length, about 2' deep, and 1½' across. It lies ENE. and WSW., so that the chamber in rear of it probably lies NNW. and SSE. The cairn is about 12' high on the W. side.
Between 150 and 200 yards SE. of Kyleoag House, on the top of a slight ridge some 30' S. of the road from Spinningdale to Migdale, is a cairn entirely overgrown with long heather. It measures some 40' from N. to S. and 45' from E. to W., and in height it is from 8' to 10' high. Its character is not revealed.
OS 6-inch map: Sutherland Sheet cxi.
RCAHMS 1911, visited (AOC) 23rd July 1909.
