South Houllan

HU25NE 15 2939 5543.

(HU 2938 5544) Cuml (OE)

OS 6" map, Shetland, 2nd ed., (1900)

A dilapidated cairn, approximately 60' in diameter, which has been disturbed to such an extent that it is doubtful if all the structural features it appears to present are really original. 'On the SE for example, there is some evidence of a roughly built wall-face, which is not curved, but straight, whereas on the NE there are traces of both the outer and inner faces of a wide wall, 4 feet thick, curving towards the ends of the straight SE portion, and broken by an opening 2' 6" wide.'

RCAHMS 1946, visited 1931-1936

Not a cairn but the tumbled remains of a Neolithic/Bronze Age homestead situated on a level platform on a W shape, obscured by debris and mutilated by later buildings. It measures c.10.5m E-W by c.9.0m N-S, with two upright stones, 0.6m high and 0.7m apart, marking the inside of the entrance. There are slight traces of internal compartments but these are mostly obscured by debris. An associated enclosure is visible leading from the homestead to the W. Other field walls in the area are of indeterminate date.

Visited by OS (N K B) 13 June 1968.

(Scheduled as South Houllan, farmstead and field system). The monument conists of the remains of a prehistoric farmstead with an attached enclosure and other remains of fields. The farmstead comprises a large mound of tumbled boulders, within which can be identified the outer face of the wall of an oval structure some 10.5m E-W by 9.0m N-S, with an entrance at the W end, flanked by two larger boulders. The interior is confused, but there are traces of alcoves along the side walls. To the W is a large sub-rectangular enclosure, which is attached to the farmstead. There are several traces of less well-defined walling, particularly to the S of the main enclosure.

Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 29 January 1993.