Cnoc Na H-iolaire

NC63SE 5 centred 691 343.

(Centred NC 689 347) Enclosures (NR) (5 shown),

(Centred NC 689 345) Enclosures (NR) (3 shown),

(Centred NC 693 341) Enclosures (NR) (2 shown),

(Centred NC 694 340) Hut Circles (NR) (3 shown).

OS 6" map, (1963)

A settlement of thirteen hut circles and enclosures (A-N) accompanied by field clearance heaps, stretching along the west and south slopes of Cnoc na h-Iolaire. The hut circles and enclosures consist of earth and stone banks, 0.2m to 0.7m in height, with entrances in the south or SE, except one (J) which is in the SW. The field clearance heaps cover an area of about 1600m long by 300m broad and are circular, 3m to 6m in diameter and 0.6m high. RCAHMS note a possible kiln, a hollow between two mounds, near the centre of the group but this was not identified during field investigation.

Visited by OS (E G C) 13 May 1961.

RCAHMS 1911, visited 1909.

This is a settlement of fourteen stone walled huts (A-P), of which one (P) is newly discovered, situated within an extensive field system. The settlement is within a Forestry Commission plantation, and though most of it has been kept free of tree, huts G H K L and M, and about a half of the field system have been ploughed and planted obscuring all details.

The huts fall into two distinct categories, of which A and B form one group. They are more massive in construction than the others, measuring respectively 9.0m and 11.0m in diameter within walls spread to 3.0m broad, and surviving to a maximum height of 1.0m. In both huts intermittent inner facing slabs on edge can be seen. Hut A has been partially excavated (excavator not known), and the outer wall face, visible as a crudely-built revetment of boulders with rubble infil, is exposed to a height of 0.5m in the west arc, indicating a wall thickness of 1.7m at this point. No details of the entrances can be seen, though that of hut 'A' has been excavated and back-filled.

The other huts are of more slender proportions, varying from 5.5m to 10.0m in diameter within peat and heather-covered walls spread to 1.5m to 2.0m broad, and not more than 0.3m high. The entrances are of simple form, though in hut 'D', the wall expands to 3.0m broad on the west side of the entrance.

Where clear of trees, the field system is preserved under heavy peat build-up. It occupies a total of about thirty hectares, and comprises stone clearance heaps, at best 15.0m to 20.0m apart, some short meandering field walls or linear clearance, and one or two lynchets. The average cultivation plot size is 30.0m by 20.0m.

The possible "kiln" noted by RCAHMS cannot be located; hitherto these features have been found on examination to be burnt mounds, and the brief description by RCAHMS accords with this classification, as does the position in close association with the huts and field system.

Revised at 1:10,000.

Visited by OS (N K B) 13 April 1977.