Reay

NC96NE 15 9728 6512

(A: NC 9728 6512 & B: NC 9726 6510) Hut Circles (NR)

OS 6"map, (1967)

Two hut circles which were excavated by McLeod in 1955 having been exposed by sand-blow in an area of rising ground which has been stripped of its turf cover.

A: proved to be 40ft in diameter within a wall 3ft 9ins wide with an unusual entrance, 3ft 4ins wide in the W. The S element of the entrance overlapped the N by 2ft 8ins. Across the inner end lay a dry-stone wall, 1ft lower than the main wall, 8ft long and 2ft 8ins wide, tapering to 1ft towards the S wall and probably merging with it. In the centre of the circle was a paved area, circular with a flattened S edge, partly surrounded at a distance of just over 1ft by set stones on the W and N and with a flag-lined and covered ash-pit on the E.

B: was only partly cleared. It had been larger than A, but only the N arc was intact, the remainder having been extensively robbed. Two stone pounders had been found earlier on this site and the excavation exposed quantities of limpet and whelk shells within the hut. Spreads of these shells occurred on the surface around and beyond the huts. A spindle whorl was picked up nearby.

A G MacLeod 1959.

Information from the 'John O' Groats Journal' (A G MacLeod) 6 and 13 September 1957.

Three huts or enclosures half-buried in sand, were located.

A: is 12.5m in diameter within a stone wall 2.0m wide and 0.1m high in places with an entrance 1.0m wide in the NW. Coursed stone walling enclosures a small compartment in the NE interior, and a small enclosure measuring about 6 by 5.0m abuts the circle on the E.

B: is oval measuring 14.3m N-S by 12.6m E-W within a fragmentary wall 2.0m wide and barely traceable . Neither entrance nor internal features was noted.

C: is 10.5m in diameter within a wall of uncertain width. Abutting this circle on the E is an enclosure measuring 10.3 by 7.3m formed by a barely-visible course of stone walling. (This may be the 'circular building' uncovered in 1926 - see NC96NE 13b).

These structures lie on a sand and gravel bed about 1.2m below the present turf level. Other stone foundations, too vague to interpret also occur, and an erect slab NE of 'C' may be the remains of a cist. This site is comparable with NC66NE 3 at Bettyhill, Sutherland.

Visited by OS (J L D) 7 April 1960

Only huts 'A' & 'B' could be identified. 'C' has probably been re-covered by sand.

A: is 13.0m in diameter and 0.8m in maximum height with an entrance in the west.

B: is 14.5m in diameter and 0.9m in maximum height with no obvious entrance though this may have been in the NW where the inner face of the dry-stone wall is broken. Large deposits of limpet and cockle shells are in the vicinity.

Surveyed at 1:2500.

Visited by OS (N K B) 25 November 1964.

Hut 'A' is as described by previous OS field surveyor The internal and external structures noted by authority 3 are now difficult to trace. Hut 'B' is very obscure and details of it cannot be ascertained with any accuracy. A depression in the dune 22.0m NE of 'B' is possibly the site of 'C'. No contemporary cultivation is evident. The upright slab noted by OS field surveyor (J L D), 7 April 1960, measuring 0.6m by 0.3m and 0.35m high stands at NC 9731 6511.

Revised at 1:2500.

Visited by OS (J B) 17 August 1981.