West Town

NH63SW 78 6250 3293 and 6244 3287

A hut-circle and a pen are situated about 80m apart on a SE-facing slope in the field to the NE of West Town. The hut-circle (NH 6250 3293) has been disturbed in the construction of the field bank, that runs across it from NE to SW, and measures 7.2m in diameter within a faced-rubble wall spread to 1.7m in thickness by 0.3m in height. To the SW of the hut-circle (at NH 6244 3287) there is a grass-covered oval pen or robbed clearance cairn, which measures 5.4m from NW to SE by 4.8m transversely over a rubble bank 0.8m measuring in thickness and 0.2m in height. (USN93 130-1)

Visited by RCAHMS (PJD) 8 October 1992.

Further hut-circle, recorded by aerial reconnaissance in 1994, at NH 6314 3298.

Information from RCAHMS (AD) 6 March 1997

NH 6252 3298 An evaluation and watching brief were conducted in February 2011 on the site of a new house and garage, located immediately N of a hut circle (NH63SW 78). Three features were identified during a site visit: (a) a possible bank at NH 6251 3296, (b) a field bank at NH 6253 3297, and (c) a possible clearance cairn or burnt mound at NH 6250 3300. Feature (a) was considered to be natural, after the excavation of two trenches, while (c) was outside the development area and was left in situ without further intervention. The field bank (b) was planned and photographed, and appears to be a pre-improvement boundary, perhaps a form of head dyke related to the two nearby townships at West Town and Midtown. A watching brief carried out during the topsoil stripping recorded no additional deposits.

Archive: RCAHMS (intended). Report: Highland HER

Funder: Ms J McCallum and Mrs K Douglas

Alba Archaeology (Highland) Ltd, 2011