Cleit

NF 85249 74670 The Cleit peninsula on North Uist is located on the N shore of the 19th-century crofting township of Ahmor. In the 18th century, the area was grazing land for the nearby tidal island of Orasaigh, which is listed in the 1718 judicial rental for North Uist, and is believed locally to have originally been part of the late medieval terung of Borerary. Pre-survey inspection of satellite imagery of the area suggested that a sub-circular dyke may have enclosed the central area of the peninsula and this was confirmed by later field survey (A, in plan). The peninsula is dominated visually by a 20m high rock outcrop at NF 8518 7475 (B), which Erskine Beveridge believed might have been the site of an Iron Age dun (Canmore 10344), although there is no evidence for this on the ground.

Today the landscape is dominated by the remains of abandoned 19th-century crofts, their boundaries (which clearly overlie dyke A) and their associated farmsteads (C). It seems very likely that stone from dyke A was quarried for their construction, partly borne out by the presence of three of the four farmsteads built on the dyke itself. The survey showed that the enclosure bounded by dyke A measured between 250–300m in extent and had an area of around 5.5ha. The dyke construction varied considerably and included all turf, turf and stone, and all stone sections. Its dimensions were also variable, with the best-preserved section along its southern sector comprising a substantial turf and stone bank, which has an external face of up to 2m high in places. Later cultivation has removed a good deal of the dyke’s northern section, although its route can still be traced with occasional remaining sections of slumped bank. It appears that sea erosion has removed a section on its NW side which has, in part, been rebuilt further inland. A second, much smaller, sub-rectangular enclosure is located within the larger one, towards its southern edge (D). This is part defined by a number of larger field boulders planted upright (see photo) and has internal dimensions of between 32–37m. A number of other sections of dyke (E) both abut and cut cross dyke A. These all appear to post-date the latter, although that separating the attached peninsula of Rubha Grileig to the W may be contemporary.

At the junction of dyke A and one of the later dyke sections is a two-compartment hut of unknown date. Other sub-circular enclosures and folds have been recorded on North Uist, with a noteworthy group of four located NE of the modern township of Bayhead (Canmore 330613 and 330614). However, these are known to be cattle folds of 19th-century date and none has a larger dimension greater than 100m. This presents the possibility that the much larger Cleit enclosure, which clearly pre-dates the North Uist land re-organisation of 1814, not only comes from a different period, but also had a different purpose.

Roger Auger and David Newman – Uist Community Archaeology Group

(Source: DES Vol 22)