Loch Benachally

NO04NE 10 centred 0835 4982

Centred at NO 0835 4982 is a settlement and field system consisting of a line of six hut circles (B - G) connected by a common baulk on the S, and an isolated hut (A) about 37.0m to the E.

'A' measures 8.3m between the centres of an unusually strong wall spread to 3.0m, with the entrance in the S. Adjoining the SE arc is an ill-preserved stone-walled enclosure c. 5.0m in diameter.

'B' is 10.5m in diameter with an entrnace in the S. A field wall joins the N arc. Eccentrically placed in the interior is a circle of slabs on edge 7.0m in diameter. Immediately to the SW are three smaller circles averaging 6.0m in diameter between wall centres.

'C' is about 13.0m between wall centres, the wall being poorly preserved, but the entrance, in the S, is well-defined.

'D - F' are single-walled huts with an average diameter of 13.0m whilst 'G' is much smaller (7.0m) and encroaches into the SE arc of 'F' as if it was a later insertion between 'E' and 'F'.

The field system is particularly well-preserved and is marked by the various remains of lynchets, walling and stone clearance heaps.

The alignment of the huts resembles a street and this effect is enhanced by a sinuous wall which runs parallel to the row 15.0m to the S. Somewhat similar arrangements occur in NO 25 NW 10 and 12 .

Surveyed at 1:10,000.

Visited by OS (BS) 5 February 1975

This group of hut-circles, situated on open moorland to the ENE of Loch Benachally Dam, is disposed along the contour of the hill immediately above a break in slope. The hut-circles are described from NW to SE.

A. This hut-circle measures 7.8m in diameter within a wall 2.7m in thickness and 0.3m in height; on the N there are traces of a central groove (0.5m broad and 0.1m deep) indicating that the house is either double walled or of multiperiod construction, and on the W the outer face has been robbed. The entrance lies on the S and is flanked by large slabs, of which only that on the W remains in situ. To the W of the entrance an arc of banking springs and forms part of an enclosure in front of the line of houses; it could be entered through a gap to the SW of house 'B'.

B. This hut-circle overlies the S wall of 'A' and probably the SW wall of 'C'. It measures 3.7m in diameter within a wall 3.1m thick and 0.4m high; the entrance is on the S.

C. This hut-circle measures 9.7m in diameter within a wall 3m thick and 0.4m high. A slight scoop in the interior, which encloses an area 7.1m in diameter, may indicate that the house was double walled or that it occupies the site of an earlier building. The entrance lies on the S and is flanked by large slabs.

D. This large house is tangential to 'C' and 'E' but it is not possible to distinguish the construction sequence. It measures 11.3m in diameter within a wall 2.8m to 3.9m in thickness by up to 0.5m in height. The wall has been robbed on the E, and the entrance, which is unusually wide (2m), is on the S. At the rear of the interior there is a slight scarp. E. This hut-circle measures 9.8m in diameter within a wall 2.9m thick and up to 0.5m high; on the E, however, the wall has been reduced to a low bank of rubble, and its relationship with 'D' is uncertain. The entrance, which is 1.3m broad, lies on the S, and there is a slight internal scarp at the rear of the interior.

F. This hut-circle has been severely reduced and the only well-preserved section of the wall lies on the S to either side of the entrance.

G, H and I. These three huts measure 3.7m, 4m and 3.6m in diameter respectively within walls that range from 1.3m to 2m in thickness by up to 0.4m in height. 'I' abuts 'J' and probably succeeds it.

J. This hut-circle measures 6.1m in diameter within a wall 4.2m thick and 0.5m high; on the N there is a groove in the wall core, suggesting that the house is double walled or multiperiod. Numerous inner facing stones are visible on the E, and the entrance is on the S.

K and L. Situated about 23m to the E of the other houses, 'K' measures 5.5m in diameter within a wall 2.5m thick and 0.5m high, and the entrance is on the S. Abutting it on the SE, there are the remains of what may be a small house or an enclosure comprising a ring of large boulders.

The field-system comprises two major elements: a large field to the N and W of the houses, and a smaller field to the S. The W of the N field bank terminates at a stream gully and appears to have incorporated the stream as the SW side of the field; the S field may also have extended as far as the stream, but the field banks are lost to view as they approach the modern field wall to the SW. There is a small subdivision in the E side of the N field which runs NE from 'J', and to the E of its junction with the main field bank there is what appears to be an original entrance. On the N flank of the subdividing bank there is a zig-zag stretch of slighter banking; its relationship with the cross bank is uncertain and it is possibly of later date and to be associated with the rig-and-furrow cultivation to be seen to the NE, W and SW of the houses. Within the easternmost angle of zig-zag bank there is an arc of a stony scarp, the purpose of which is uncertain.

In the area to the N, W and S of the houses there are numerous small cairns and linear clearance heaps, but they are entirely absent in the N field to the E of the subdivision. For an adjacent settlement see NO 05 SE 18.

Visited by RCAHMS (JBS) July 1987.

RCAHMS 1990.

RCAHMS surveyed the hut-circles and field system at Loch Benachally in 1988 by plane-table and self-reducing alidade. The resultant 1:1250 plan was redrawn in ink and published at a scale of 1:2500 (RCAHMS 1990, Fig. 140.18).

RCAHMS surveyed the hut circles and field system at Loch Benachally in 1988 by self-reducing alidade and plane-table at a scale of 1:1250. The resultant plan was redrawn in ink and published at a scale of 1:2500 (RCAHMS 1990, Fig. 140.18).