Skinnet, Lower Horse Pool

ND16SW 14 centred 133 625.

Centred at ND 133 625, in low-lying rough pasture just above the flood plain of the River Thurso, is a hut circle, also an oval, and four sub-rectangular footings.

The hut circle (A), at ND 1335 6252, measures 5.0m in diameter within a turf-covered wall spread from 2.0 to 2.5m and 0.2m high, in which no stones show. An ill-defined gap in the W arc is probably the entrance. The oval footing (B), at ND 1335 6248, measures 6.0 by 5.0m within a wall similar to that of the hut circle, but no entrance is apparent. Its date and purpose are uncertain.

The sub-rectangular footings are similar, comprising a trench with contiguous outer bank suggestive of a palisaded construction. They vary in size from 5.2 by 3.2m to 7.5 by 4.2m between the centres of the trench; the latter is about 0.2m maximum depth and the bank about 1.0m wide and 0.2m high. The ends are slightly bowed and there is no trace of an entrance. It is not clear whether these footings are contemporary with the hut circle or later; there is some evidence of early modern cultivation in the vicinity.

Surveyed at 1:2500.

Visited by OS (J B) 15 February 1982.

The following locations are indicated by manuscript annotations on the NMRS record sheet:

A ND 1335 6252

B ND 1335 6238

C ND 1338 6253

D ND 1335 6251

E ND 1331 6250

Information from NMRS (RJCM) 16 February 1994.