Allt Bad Ra'fin

NC82NE 26 897 264.

('A': NC 8973 2647 'B': NC 8981 2647) Enclosures (NR)

('C': NC 8982 2632) Enclosure (NR)

OS 6" map, 1962.

The remains of three enclosures, discovered during field investigation.

Visited by OS (E G C) 28 May 1961

This is a settlement of three hut circles (A-C) on an undulating east-facing hillslope.

Hut 'A' measures 8.5m in diameter within a turf-covered wall spread to about 3.0m wide. The centre of the wall is depressed, which may indicate an infill primarily of vegetation. The entrance was probably in the south. A beaten track runs through the west side of the hut.

'B' set slightly into the slope, is more strongly constructed than 'A'. It measures 14.5m SE-NW x 12.5m within a wall spread to 2.5m widening to 4.0m at the E side of the entrance in the SE.

'C', placed on a low rise, is about 7.0m in diameter within a wall, fragmentary in the NE, but spread to 2.5m where preserved. It enlarges to 4.0m wide in the SE where two large blocks define the entrance, although the gap is blocked.

The remains of a shieling (7.0m x 2.0m) lie 25m to the north. Stones were probably taken from the hut circle for its construction.

There are no clear traces of contemporary cultivation in the vicinity, but the ground is smooth and stone free.

Revised at 1/10,000

Visited by OS (J B) 2 December 1976

There are at least three hut-circles (B-D), an enclosure (A), three burnt mounds (F-H), a cairn (E) and a hut, situated on gently undulating ground to the SW of the Allt Bad Ra'fin. There are extensive areas of ridging, defined by shallow grooves about 2.5m apart, across the better-drained ground.

A. NC 8972 2646 This enclosure measures 8.4m in diameter within a turf bank 2.8m in thickness and 0.2m in height. The bank has a central groove and it seems likely that it represents a decayed, two-skin turf stell. There is an entrance on the S and peat cuttings in the vicinity.

(KILD91 114)

B. NC 8980 2647 This hut-circle measures 11.9m in diameter within a bank 2.3m in thickness and 0.6m in height. The entrance is on the SSE and there is a small platform in the E of the interior. There is ridging measuring about 2.5m between furrows to the E.

(KILD91 115)

C. NC 8980 2631 This hut-circle measures 7.4m in diameter within a stone-faced bank 1.8m in thickness and 0.6m in height. The inner and outer faces are intermittent and the bank and interior have been disturbed by ridging.

(KILD91 118)

D. NC 8959 2642 This hut-circle measures 10.2m in diameter within a bank 2.8m in thickness and 0.2m in height. The entrance is on the SE, and what may be a further structure, visible as an oval depression, lies some 30m to the ESSE.

(KILD91 113)

E. NC 8955 2446 What may be a cairn is situated in an area of burnt heather just off the crest of a slight ridge on the E side of Cnoc Bad na h-Eirig. This cairn is 2.5m in diameter and lies at the centre of a slightly dished area defined by a turf bank 7.7m in diameter overall and no more than 0.2m in height.

(KILD91 112)

F. NC 8969 2634 This U-shaped burnt mound measures 9.2m from N to S by 7.7m transversely and 0.7m in height. Its open side is on the SW, facing into a slight gully where a subsidiary mound almost closes the mouth. Lifting a sod revealed cracked stone set in a matrix of black soil beneath up to 0.3m of peat.

G. NC 8974 2632 This burnt mound comprises two oval mounds set parallel to each other against the W side of a gully. Overall the mounds measure 7m from N to S by 5.2m transversely and 0.6m in height. The open side of the burnt mound is on the E; the mounds merging with the gully sides on the W. Lifting a sod revealed cracked stone and charcoal set in a matrix of black soil.

(KILD91 117)

H. NC 8989 2618 This burnt mound is situated on the W side of a tributary to the Suisgill Burn and measures 7.9m from NW to SE by 4.2m transversely and 0.5m in height. It comprises two mounds set on either side of a marked declivity which opens out to the E. Stones around the N side of the mound may be a crude revetment. Lifting a sod revealed cracked stone set in a matrix of black soil.

(KILD91 111)

Visited by RCAHMS (DCC) 5 April 1991.