Rum, Harris 2

Harris 2 NM 334 959 NM39NW

Situated on a terrace overlooking the township of Harris (NM39NW 8), and mutilated by the formation of later cultivation ridges, there are the remains of at least eight buildings. One may overlie an earlier building, and the appearance of two of the others suggests that they represent more than one period of construction.

RCAHMS 1983, visited June 1983

Two unroofed buildings are depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Argyllshire, Islands of Rum, Sanday etc., 1879, sheet lxvi). Four unroofed buildings are shown on the current edition of the OS 1:10000 map (1975).

Information from RCAHMS (SAH) 6 December 1996.

A township comprising at least ten buildings, one with an adjoining yard, occupies a terrace overlooking Harris from the W. All but one of the buildings are set end-on to the slope, and the other stands on flat ground to the SW and has been severely damaged by the furrows of later lazy bed cultivation. The buildings range in size from 3.8m by 3.1m to 16.1m by 6.5m over walls reduced to grass-grown stony banks. In some instances, large stones belonging to the inner and outer faces can still be seen, suggesting that the walls may originally have had a turf or earthen core. The largest and best preserved building comprises three compartments, though that at the E, downslope end, is significantly broader and may instead be a separate structure. At least three other buildings have been damaged by lazy bed cultivation, two of which have been reduced to their lower ends only, and the other has had its S side all but removed. Plots of lazy bed cultivation extend downslope to the E, and a track runs from NE to SW above the buildings leading onto the unimproved ground.

Visited by RCAHMS (ARG,SDB) 19 August 2011.

RCAHMS surveyed the Harris 2 township, Rum on 19 August 2011 with plane table and self-reducing alidade at a scale of 1:500. The plan was later used as the basis for an illustration published in 2016 at a scale of 1:1000 (Hunter, fig. 5.29).