Dail A' Bhaite
Circular Enclosure (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Dail A' Bhaite
Classification Circular Enclosure (Period Unassigned)
Canmore ID 6928
Site Number NC86SW 4
NGR NC 8323 6485
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/6928
- Council Highland
- Parish Farr
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Sutherland
- Former County Sutherland
NC86SW 4 8323 6485.
About 1/2 mile SW of Strathy church, and somewhat less to the W of the river, on the N side of a small ravine, and between it and an old feal dyke, is a circle of upright and almost contiguous boulders, 9 1/2 ft in diameter. On the N and NE are the remains of an outer and nearly parallel row, some 5ft to 8ft distant, the stones of which are not so closely set. On the N side of the circle is a mound, about 10ft by 5ft by 2ft high, which may be the remains of the original bank. To the NE, at 7ft distant, is a small mound about 9ft in diameter. This structure resembles the
circle of stones on the An t-Sron, near Lairg, and also that near Knock Arthur in Rogart.
RCAHMS 1911, visited 1909
A small circle 3.6m in diameter of contiguous stones at NC 8323 6485 mainly as described by the RCAHMS, apart from not all being upright. The outer setting is ill-defined and is more likely to be fortuitous or a result of mutilation.
The purpose of this circle is obscure as it does not appear to be a hut circle, and may be a sepulchral monument. It could, however, be associated with several depopulation enclosures attached to a hill dyke close by to the NE.
Surveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (WDJ) 24 April 1960 and (AA) 9 November 1972
(NC 8319 6486) Hut Circle (NR) (mis-plotted)
OS 6" map (1962)
(NC 8323 6484) Undescribed circular feature
OS 25" map (1974)
The enclosure published on OS 25" is the circle described by the previous authorities; the feature on the OS 6" 1962 publication is a natural tumble of boulders.
The circle, and the outer setting, is enigmatic and unimpressive and any resemblance to the circle of stones on the An t-Sron, near Lairg, is superficial. The final comment of the previous investigator provides a most likely answer to the origin of the feature.
Resurveyed at 1:10,000.
Visited by OS (JM) 23 July 1977
