Ach A' Chorrain

NC36SE 10 373 619.

(Centred NC 373 619) A group of hut circles lying between the 125ft and 200ft contours.

'A': NC 3736 6190, is a circular hut 16ft in diameter overall, with walls of typical double construction, lying within a circle of irregularly spaced stones, 28ft in diameter.

'B': About 70 yds to the N, measures 30 ft in overall diameter.

'C': NC 3723 6185, measures 30 ft in overall diameter.

'D': NC 3729 6180, measures 24 ft in overall diameter.

R W K Reid 1968; OS6"map annotated by Dr C S Sandeman, Durness, 14

March 1967.

A settlement of five hut circles (A-E) set in shelving ground on the E flank of Ach' a' Chorrain. The huts are heather and turf-covered, and entrances, where discernible, are from either the E or the ESE; internal dimensions are 'A' to 'E' respectively: 6.5m diameter, 8.5m diameter, 9.5m ESE-WNW by 7.5m, 5.7m E-W by 5.1m, and 7.5m E-W by 7.0m.

'A', the hut planned at NC 3736 6190 (R W K Reid 1968) retains only scant traces of its wall. Occupying much of the interior, and protruding over the SE arc, is a secondary structure of L-shaped form, measuring 6.5m long by 3.0m narrowing to 1.5m broad within a 1.0m thick wall of boulder slab construction standing to 0.8m. It is probably contemporary with 18th - 19th century enclosures and bothies which occur nearby, and it has similarities with a structure at Kearvaig Bay (NC27SE 5). Some stones outside the E arc of the hut show no structural pattern.

In the other huts, walls survive as rubble spreads varying from 1.5m to 2.5m broad and 0.2m to 0.5m high. In the interior of hut 'C' is the rectangular footing of a bothy, 5.5m by 2.5m; a similar footing, 6.5m by 2.5m lies 20.0m W and another, 6.0m by 2.5m about 50.0m NE.

No indication of associated land-use was noted.

Surveyed at 1:10,000.

Visited by OS (J M) 9 April 1980; R W K Reid 1968.