Braevall Wood
Enclosure (Prehistoric), Field System (Prehistoric), Hut Circle (Prehistoric), Slag (Iron)
Site Name Braevall Wood
Classification Enclosure (Prehistoric), Field System (Prehistoric), Hut Circle (Prehistoric), Slag (Iron)
Canmore ID 15027
Site Number NH84NW 15
NGR NH 8449 4584
NGR Description Centred NH 8449 4584
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/15027
- Council Highland
- Parish Cawdor
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Nairn
- Former County Nairn
NH84NW 15 centred 8449 4584.
('A' - NH 844 457, 'B' - NH 843 456, 'C' - NH 845 457). Visible on RAF air photographs RAF/106G/Scot/UK 169: 5383-4 and on OS air photographs OS/67/140: 126-7.
(Undated) information in NMRS.
Two circular stone-walled huts at NH 8443 4590 ('A') and NH 8447 4578 ('B'), with contemporary cultivation plots averaging c.20.0m by c. 15.0m in their vicinity, defined by stone clearance heaps and occasional field walls.
Hut 'A' measures c. 18.5m in diameter between the centres of an ill-defined wall obscured by peat. A dip in the wall in the E probably marks the entrance. A drain has cut across the SE arc exposing the wall core of rubble in which the OS (A A) found pieces of iron slag. More iron slag is visible in a similar drain near the brink of a N facing slope c. 40.0m NE of the hut.
Hut 'B' measures c.10.5m in diameter between the centres of a denuded wall spread to c. 2.5m all round. The entrance is not evident. A clearance heap lies against the wall in the SW.
About 50.0m to the N of 'B' is a roughly circular area c. 12.0m in diameter, bounded on the N by a stony bank c. 3.0m wide, and elsewhere by a rickle of stones. An elongated clearance heap occurs outside the E arc. It may be a denuded hut, but is more likely fortuitous.
Surveyed at 1:10,000.
Visited by OS (A A) 2 April 1971.
The pieces of slag found at this site were donated to the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS).
(Undated) information in NMRS.
In an area of moorland which formerly comprised part of Braevall Wood, there is a hut-circle measuring 11m in diameter over a wall 2.5m in thickness. Lying on top of the wall there is a small cairn. About 100m to the NNW there is a roughly circular enclosure 18m in diameter. Running in a SE direction from the hut-circle there is a stony bank 1m in thickness. Surrounding the hut-circle and enclosure there are a large number of cairns measuring up to 4m in diameter and 0.5m high and extending over an area of about 9.5ha.
RCAHMS 1978, visited July 1978.
Field Visit (July 1978)
Braevall Wood NH 844 457 NH84NW 15
In an area of moorland, which formerly comprised part of Braevall Wood, there is a hut circle measuring 11 m in diameter over a wall 2.5m in thickness. Lying on top of the wall there is a small cairn. About 100m to the NNW there is a roughly circular enclosure 18m in diameter. Running in a SE direction from the hut-circle there is a stony bank 1 m in thickness. Surrounding the hut-circle and enclosure there are a large number of cairns measuring up to 4m in diameter and 0.5m high and extending over an area of about 9.5ha.
RCAHMS 1978, visited Julv 1978
Field Walking (10 January 2011 - 23 February 2011)
NH 8486 4604 (centred on) A walkover survey was carried out 10 January–23 February 2011 ahead of proposed tree planting at Gleneoullie. Extensive areas of Bronze Age / Iron Age field clearance were overlaid by medieval or post-medieval peat cuttings. On the western end of Carn Mor, within a fenced enclosure, the footings of two post-medieval houses were surrounded by rig and furrow. These appear to also overlie evidence of Bronze Age/Iron Age farming activity. Three buildings were recorded just outside the survey area at NH 850 468, NH 8477 5651 and NH 845 464. The following sites were recorded in the survey area:
NH 8396 4620 Buildings and quarry pit; NH 8461 4618 (centred on) field clearance cairns; NH 84620 45670 kerbed cairn; NH 84490 45840 hut circles and field systems; NH 849 455 (centred on) Bronze Age/Iron Age features overlain by houses; NH 849 455 (centred on) hut circles and field systems; NH 840 454 house; NH 85010 45640 house; NH 84940 45560 house and NH 854 461 (centred on) field cairns.
The northern slopes of the two hills are apparently clear of archaeological features, but the flatter top of Carn Mor and the E side of Creag Daimh are not. The longhouse and extensive rig and furrow fields on Carn Mor (NH 849 455) are interesting, as this is an exposed hilltop location nearly 260m above sea level. The rig and furrow must have been in use over quite a long period, as in some places the ridges have merged into wider strips. It was not possible to clarify the full extent of the rig and furrow, which extended into the surrounding heather, but there appear to be indications of Bronze/Iron Age hut circles and field clearance cairns underlying it. As the hilltop has a large number of archaeological features it has been recommended that the area should be cleared of heather, the features marked and protected by 5–10m buffer zones, and the area planted with native broadleaved woodland.
Another area of Bronze Age/Iron Age fields lies on the E slopes of Creag an Daimh. The heather in the area has been burnt, which made it easier to determine the extent of the features. It has been recommended that these features should be marked and protected during planting of broadleaved woodland. The footings of several medieval or post-medieval buildings, recorded on lower ground towards the burn, should be protected with by a buffer zone of 20m during the planting of conifers.
Archive: Highland HER and RCAHMS
Sponsor: Cawdor Forestry
Highland Archaeology Services 2011
