Islay, Laraichean Buidhe
Cairnfield (Prehistoric), Field System (Prehistoric), Hut Circle(S) (Prehistoric)
Site Name Islay, Laraichean Buidhe
Classification Cairnfield (Prehistoric), Field System (Prehistoric), Hut Circle(S) (Prehistoric)
Canmore ID 37366
Site Number NR26NE 14
NGR NR 2588 6914
NGR Description NR 2588 6914 and NR 2587 6916
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/37366
- Council Argyll And Bute
- Parish Kilchoman
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Argyll And Bute
- Former County Argyll
NR26NE 14 2588 6914 and 2587 6916.
See also NR26NE 46
Two hut circles 10m apart which are situated on the end of a low promontory above an extensive peat marsh were found during field investigation. They are levelled into the slight slope and the peat covered earth and stone banks spread to 3m and 0.4m high enclose dished featureless interiors.
'A' at NR 2588 6916 is 9m in overall diameter and a single orthostat in the south east suggests an entrance but this is not clear as the bank is fragmentary in this quadrant.
'B' at NR 2589 6914 is 11.5m in overall diameter with an entrance apparently in the south east; two earth-fast boulders set 3m outside the hut at this point may indicate an annexe or outer bank.
There is no evidence of agricultural activity in the vicinity however a sinuous peat and boulder bank leads away to the south from near the huts but it is not clear whether this is contemporaneous.
Surveyed at 1:10000.
Visited by OS (T R G) 6 May 1978.
Field Visit (May 1980)
NR 258 691. On the N side of a low moorland ridge 1.8 km W of Leckgruinart Cottage there is a pair of hut-circles situated 8.5m apart. The NW hut-circle appears as a peat-covered bank of earth and stone, between 2m and 2.5m thick and up to 0.4m high, which surrounds a slightly dished interior measuring 5m by 6m; a few stones, which may have formed part of the outer and inner faces, are visible. The entrance was probably on the SE, where two upright slabs may mark the line of the E side-wall of the passage. The SE hut-circle is similar in form, with a bank, up to 0.6m high, enclosing an area 5.5m by 6m. The ground was built up, particularly on the W, to provide a level platform for the hut-circle, and the junction between the hut-bank and the platform is unclear, making it difficult to judge the thickness of the bank, but it appears to vary betwen 2m and 3m. The entrance was probably on the SE, where the bank has been damaged by a sheep track. Two large slabs, which may have formed part of an annexe, lie outside the hut-circle on the S.
About 100m to the SE of the hut-circles, on the gently sloping S face of the ridge, there is a detached length of earth-and-stone field-bank running southwards for about 50m. It is up to 0.6m high and about 1.5m thick and its NW angle is marked by a large upright stone. The area defined by this bank is unknown, but it may have been related to a short stony scarp 35m to the E. Nine peat-covered circular or oval clearance-cairns, varying between 2m and 6.5m across, lie in the area around the field-banks; other low mounds in the vicinity are apparently of earth only. There is no visible relationship between the field-banks, cairns and hut-circles and they are not necessarily contemporary.
Visited May 1980
RCAHMS 1984
Measured Survey (1980)
RCAHMS surveyed the hut circles, cairns and field-banks at Laraichean Buidhe at a scale of 1:1000, with details of the hut circles at 1:200. The site plan was redrawn in ink and published at a reduced scale (RCAHMS 1984, fig. 145A).
