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Strath Tirry

Cairnfield (Prehistoric), Hut Circle(S) (Prehistoric)

Site Name Strath Tirry

Classification Cairnfield (Prehistoric), Hut Circle(S) (Prehistoric)

Canmore ID 5161

Site Number NC51NE 3

NGR NC 552 174

NGR Description Centred NC 552 174

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/5161

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
Canmore Disclaimer. © Bluesky International Limited 2025. Public Sector Viewing Terms

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Administrative Areas

  • Council Highland
  • Parish Lairg
  • Former Region Highland
  • Former District Sutherland
  • Former County Sutherland

Archaeology Notes

NC51NE 3 centred 552 174

See also NC51NE 18.

(NC 5526 1748) A rectangular structure and a scatter of stones.

(NC 5540 1742) A circular structure.

R J Mercer 1980

Centred on NC 552 174, on a SW-facing hillside, is a settlement of four hut circles (A-D). Hut D is newly located, and A-C are the structures noted by Mercer. Huts A-C, turf-covered, are reduced and ill-defined; entrances no longer survive but appear to have been from the south.

'A' measures about 11.5m diameter overall. An appreciable stone cover protrudes in the interior and suggests bothy footings.

'B' measures an estimated 10.0m diameter overall. The south arc is destroyed, and a bothy-type footing intrudes on the WSW exterior of the hut.

'C' measures approximately 10.0m diameter overall. The interior is uneven indicating overgrown rubble.

'D', peat-covered, measures 6.0m diameter within a wall spread at most pronounced, in the NE half,to 2.0m by 0.3m high; the entrance is no longer evident. Attached to the SW exterior of the hut are the scant remains of a roughly circular enclosure 6.5m across overall.

Associated land-use is evident in occasional heaps of stone clearance in the vicinity of the huts. Later land activity, abandoned in the 18/19th century, is denoted in the intrusion of a number of bothy footings and the ruins of a field wall (see NC51NE 18)

Surveyed at 1:10 000.

Visited by OS (JM) 17 June 1981

Activities

Field Visit (19 October 1989)

The hut-circle (OS 'C') is 5.7m in diameter within a wall reduced to a low turf-covered stony bank, about 2.5m thick, 0.3m in height. There is no apparent entrance, and the wall is destroyed on the SE side. Adjacent to hut-circle (OS 'B') is a sub-rectangular building with two compartments but no apparent entrance. A large upstanding stone marks the division between the compartments.

A fifth hut-circle, located at NC 5522 1763, has no entrance. Its overall diameter is 7.9m within a wall reduced to a low turf-covered bank, standing up to 0.3m in height. The wall is destroyed on the S

side.

Surveyed at 1:10,000

Visited by RCAHMS (SMF) 19 October 1989.

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