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Ach An Fhionnfhuaraidh
Cairnfield (Prehistoric), Field System (Prehistoric), Hut Circle(S) (Prehistoric)
Site Name Ach An Fhionnfhuaraidh
Classification Cairnfield (Prehistoric), Field System (Prehistoric), Hut Circle(S) (Prehistoric)
Canmore ID 7171
Site Number NC92SW 14
NGR NC 901 240
NGR Description NC 9016 2403, NC 9013 2406 and NC 9024 2405
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/7171
- Council Highland
- Parish Kildonan
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Sutherland
- Former County Sutherland
NC92SW 14 901 240.
(A : NC 9016 2403, B : NC 9013 2406 and C : NC 9024 2405) Enclosures (NR). OS 6"map, (1963)
A settlement of three hut-circles (A-C) discovered during field investigation (Information from OS (W D J) 2 June 1961) on a W-facing slope, in association with a minor field system. The latter, in an area heavily masked by heather, is evidenced by sporadic, barely distinguishable, mounds of stone clearance, and, close to the N in hut 'B' by lyncheting and banking. There is abandoned 18/19th settlement to the S. The huts, in the main peat-covered, appear of similar type.
'A', levelled out of the slope and 10.0m internal diameter, stands to 1.3m in the SE half; a robust wall, spread on average to 2.5m broad, shows intermittently an inner facing of boulder slab. An entrance is from the NW.
'B' is 7.5m inside diameter; the wall, at best 0.4m high, is spread to 2.0m. An entrance is no longer evident. The hut would seem to lie within another larger, but less well-preserved hut of estimated diameter internally 12.0m. The latter is slightly levelled into the slope, but otherwise no structural features are visible.
'C' is 13.0 diameter within a wall broadly similar to that of hut 'B'. An entrance is in the NW.
Huts A and C - Surveyed at 1:10,560.
Hut B - Revised at 1:10,560.
Visited by OS (J M) 13 January 1977
Field Visit (5 June 1991)
There are four hut-circles set on a series of terraces amidst a scatter of small cairns, lynchets and banks.
A. NC 9016 2403 This hut-circle is situated on the leading edge of a terrace and measures 8.5m in diameter within a stony bank 2.8m in thickness and 1m in height. On the E the interior is levelled into the hillside, and the entrance may be on the NW. There is a stony apron on the W and a well-developed lynchet runs off to the N.
(KILD91 378)
B. NC 9014 2406 There are two distinct phases of construction visible in this hut-circle. The earlier hut-circle measures 10.5m in diameter within a low heather-covered bank 2.5m in thickness. The later is offset to the W of the interior of the earlier, with a common wall, and measures 6.5m in diameter within a stone-faced bank 1m in thickness with the entrance lying on the NW. The gap between the hut-circle walls contains some clearance heaps.
Outside the hut-circle wall, and to the S, there is an oblong stony mound. A lynchet runs off from the hut-circle wall, to the N and S and what may be a large, poorly-defined hut-circle is situated some 5m to the N.
(KILD91 374)
C. NC 9025 2405 This hut-circle comprises a platform measuring 12m in diameter within a denuded heather-covered bank 1.8m in thickness and 0.6m in maximum height. The entrance may lie on the NNW but the bank around much of the W arc has been reduced by cultivation which appears to have ridden up over the edge of the platform. A bank runs off to the W from the NW of the hut-circle.
(KILD91 376)
D. NC 9012 2410 This hut-circle is cut into the slight lynchet that springs from the N side of hut-circle 'B'. It measures 5.5m in diameter within a heather-covered bank 2.1m in thickness and 0.3m in height. The entrance is on the SSW.
(KILD91 375)
The field-system lies around the hut-circles and is composed of lynchets, mostly running along the contour, several cross-contour banks, and a scatter of cairns measuring up to 5m in diameter and 0.4m in height.
Visited by RCAHMS (DCC) 5 June 1991.
