Li, Allt A' Bhealaich Bhain

NG80NW 9 8343 0728.

On the right bank of the Allt a' Bhealaich Bhain, there are the remains of a farmstead comprising two buildings, whose NNW end-walls have been incorporated in the SSE wall of a 19th-century fank, whilst within the fank there are the wasted remains of a third building which may, or may not, be related to the farmstead.

The buildings comprising the farmstead are set parallel to each other, 2.6m apart. Each is terraced into the slope and has a drainage-trench to the rear. The larger of the two buildings, probably the dwelling, directly overlooks the foreshore. It is rectangular on plan and constructed of random rubble built to a course, with squared angles, and measures 10.4m from NNW to SSE by 5.2m transversely over walls 0.6m in thickness. The long-walls have been reduced to their lowest courses but the end-walls survive to a height of 1.4m in twelve courses. The entrance was towards the NNW end of the ENE long-wall. On the NNW side of the entrance there is a surviving window jamb. A possible cruck-slot (0.2m wide and springing from a point 0.6m above ground level) is located 1.2m from the SSE end of the WSW wall. To the front of the building there is a small enclosed yard (7.6m by 2.5m internally), and, to the N and partially overlain by the fank, traces of spade-dug ridging.

The second building, upslope from the first, is rectangular on plan, constructed of random rubble with rounded outer angles, and measures 8.1m from NNW to SSE by 5.3m transversely over walls that have, with the exception of an end-wall, been reduced to their lowest courses (0.75m thick and up to 0.9m high internally). The NNW end-wall stands to a height of 1m in eight courses. The entrance (0.9m wide) was towards the NNW end of the ENE wall.

On marginally higher ground to the NW interior of the fank, and set end-on to the slope, there are the wasted remains of a building measuring 6m from SW to NE by about 4.6m transversely overall. An upright boulder has been incorporated in the NE wall.

Extending upslope and S along the lower slopes bordering Camas Domhain, there are extensive traces of cultivation ridging. To the N of Allt a' Bhealaich Bhain, the cultivation rises to a height of 122m OD, the ridging being subdivided into parcels by a series of transverse and lateral field boundaries. The limit of cultivation upslope is defined by an earthen head-dyke which is a conspicuous feature over this part of the coastal strip. To the S of Allt a' Bhealaich Bhain the head-dyke embraces a large tract of ground, encompassing the headland of Rubha nan Tulachanan and extending E into the neighbouring bay of Poll a' Mhuineil. This block of ground is further subdivided by a lateral boundary, probably the march-dyke between the farms of Li and Muineil which is depicted on Morrison's survey of 1771, taken from Plan of the annexed estate of Barrisdale, a copy of the original lodged in the Exchequer by William Morrison 13 June 1805 (SRO RHP.112), which extends upslope from the S end of Camas Domhain. The course of this boundary beyond the head-dyke is fragmented but a 40m stretch of it is still visible at NG 8308 0671 (about 175m OD). There are clearance cairns respectively at NG 8345 0705 and 8345 0704, and a platform at NG 8316 0688 (see NG80NW 10).

Visited by RCAHMS (IMS) 6 June 1991.

RCAHMS 1991.

A farmstead, comprising two unroofed buildings and one enclosure, and a head-dyke is depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Inverness-shire 1876, sheet lxxvii). Two enclosures and the head-dyke are shown on the current edition of the OS 1:10000 map (1971).

Information from RCAHMS (AKK) 31 July 1996.