Tulloch
Hut Circle(S) (Prehistoric), Mound (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Tulloch
Classification Hut Circle(S) (Prehistoric), Mound (Period Unassigned)
Canmore ID 14051
Site Number NH69SW 6
NGR NH 616 925
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/14051
- Council Highland
- Parish Creich (Sutherland)
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Sutherland
- Former County Sutherland
NH69SW 6 616 925.
(Y: NH 6165 9258, Z: NH 6168 9260) Hut Circles (NR)
OS 25" map, (1969)
Centred at NH 616 925, and conspicuously placed within a field system (NH69SW 5) is a cairn (X) and the remains of two others (Y and Z).
'X' is a turf-covered stony mound, about 7.0m in diameter and about 0.8m high.
'Y', noted by the field investigator in 1963 (OS [EGC]) as an enclosure, is a robbed cairn. It is a turf-covered, stony mound about 12.0m in diameter and about 0.5m high. Occasional kerb stones are visible around the perimeter. There is an excavation in the centre but no structure is exposed.
'Z', described by the RCAHMS (1911) as a small hut circle with an entrance in the SE, is a robbed cairn. Only a rim of cairn material remains, about 7.5m in diameter and about 0.5m high.
Surveyed at 1:2500.
RCAHMS 1911, visited 1909; Visited by OS (E G C) 13 June 1963 and (R L) 7 October 1969.
The three features noted above are physically as described by the previous authorities, but the classification as cairns is doubtful.
'X', although prominently sited on a small natural crest does not differ particularly from the larger examples of the numerous clearance heaps in the area. As it does not exhibit any of the definitive characteristics of a round cairn, its classification as such can be only speculative. 'Y', situated on a small ridge, is almost certainly a hut circle, surviving as a turf-covered platform measuring 12.5m SSW-NNE by 11.0m. Its composition is almost exclusively earthen; little stone is revealed in the central excavation. The alleged kerb stones (OS [RL]) are not the rim of a cairn but the revetment or outer facing stones of a wall now obscured.
'Z' is not a cairn but a hut circle about 6.5m in diameter within a
wall spread to 1.5m wide and 0.2m high internally, with outer facing stones visible. The entrance is in the SE arc.
Survey revised at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (J B) 1 September 1980.
Field Visit (2 October 1909)
69. The Tulloch, Bonarbridge.
The Tulloch, and Druim Liath, which is a portion of it, are covered with stony mounds and hut circles. Of the former by far the greater number present features suggesting that they are the ruins of huts. Most of them are circular, with a diameter of 16', some are oblong, and some of the heaps are so long as to suggest that several huts have stood attached in a row. Among them here and there are conical mounds overgrown with vegetation, but these are much less numerous.
[NH69SW 14] About ¼ mile E. of the school-house and a short distance to the E. of ‘Carn an fhitich’ (No. 85) are a number of the supposed hut ruins. One heap of stones lying E. and W. measures 30' x 17'. Adjacent to it, in the form of a crescent, is a long mound facing S., some 60' long by 20' wide at the centre. Near the top of the hill, towards the SW., are a few small overgrown mounds measuring from 12' to 16' in diameter. On the same part of the hill is an oval heap of stones measuring 20' x 14'. The remains of old walls are visible among the ruins. In one instance a portion of wall is succeeded by two mounds about 15' apart, and 15' to 16' in diameter.
[NH69SW 14] Some ½ m. NW. of the W. end of Loch Migdale are the ruins of a hut circle measuring interiorly 24' X 20', with foundations of walls running from it. To the N. of it, some 40', is a heap of stones lying N. and S., measuring 40' x 18', and showing marked depressions near the centre. Near by are a number of conical mounds overgrown with vegetation, some 12' in diameter, and about 1½' in height.
[NH69SW 14] About ¼ m. NNW. of the church is a well-marked hut ruin. It measures 16' in diameter over all, and the interior depression, which is clearly defined, about 7' in diameter. The entrance appears to have been from the SE. Some 80 yards NNW. of it are two small mounds some 18' in diameter, and 2' to 3' in height.
On the W. side of the road which crosses Druim Liath from N. to S., and towards the N. side of the hill, is a small circular enclosure measuring 12' in interior diameter. The entrance appears to have been from the W. Some 30 yards to the N. of it is a semicircular enclosure facing NW., measuring some 30' in diapieter, with a bank about 9' thick. Opposite the end of the bank at the SE. is a low heap of stones about 14' in diameter.
On the N. side of Druim Liath, some ¾ m. NNE. of the Poorhouse, is a circular enclosure with an interior diameter of about 30'. The wall, which has been entirely broken down, has measured about 8' in thickness, and has been formed of boulders. On the K side a bank projects 25' in length and 15' in breadth, probably flanking the entrance. What appear to be the ruins of one or two small circular huts lie near to the S. On the SE. flank of the hill are the remains, almost obliterated, of several hut circles of simple oval form.
Some 300 yards SW. of the last described circle is another of simple form, measuring interiorly 26' x 32'. The entrance appears to been from the E., but the circle is overgrown with whins, and
the details are indefinite.
[NH69SW 20] On the top of the hill, near its NW. end, are some large heaps of stone, probably ruins of contiguous huts. Two of these heaps measure 28' in length by 16' in width.
On the top of Druim Liath, about 1 m. NE. of Bonarbridge, is a small hut circle measuring interiorly 20' x 23', with its entrance from the SE. 2' wide through banks 5' thick.
Some 100 yards W. is a circular enclosure with an interior diameter of 3', surrounded by the ruins of a wall composed of rather small stones, in its present state from 7' to 8' broad. The entrance has probably been from the ESE., and been 3' wide. Against the wall . in the interior, and slightly to the N. of a point opposite the entrance, are the ruins of a hut, similar in appearance to those all over the hill, measuring some 12' x 14' (fig. 9).
Some 15' to the N. are the remains of another circular enclosure with an interior diameter of 38'. The bank has been of stone and turf, the entrance from the ESE. about 9' wide.
[NH69SW 30] At the extreme NW. end of Druim Liath is a group of small mounds, about six in number, conical in form, of some 17' in diameter, and from 2' 6" to 3' in height.
Some 100 yards N., on the N. slope of the hill, is a hut circle with an interior diameter of 21' x 26'; the entrance is from the E., and the surrounding bank of turf and stone is about 4' thick. Several small mounds lie adjacent; none, however, having the hut features.
[NH69SW 3] At the W. end of the hill, some 120 yards N. of "Carn Liath," is a hut circle which has had an enclosing wall of stone 6' to 7' thick. The interior diameter is 28'. The entrance is from the E., and is 3' wide. Around it are small mounds of from 15' to 18' in diameter, mostly covered with vegetation.
OS 6-inch map: Sutherland Sheet cviii.
RCAHMS 1911, visited (AOC) 2nd October 1909.
