Groat's Loch

ND34SW 105 31251 40668, 31246 40691 and 31327 40724

(ND 3124 4069) The remains of a circular sheepfold.

(ND 3124 4067) The remains of a circular sheepfold.

Visited by OS 27 April 1967.

Location formerly entered as ND 3124 4069.

Hut-circle (ND 3124 4069). Dimensions: 10.5m x 9.50m external, 6m x 6m internal. Circular structure formed by an earth and stone bank. Facing stones visible in the interior, on the N, W and S sides. Large facing-slabs at the W and N. The entrance is situated on the SE side, marked by two thin flat facing-slabs set in line across the wall. Tumbled slabs lie tilted to the N of these. 12m N of 'hut-circle'

Hut-circle (ND 3124 4067). Dimesions: 12m x 11.50m external, 6.50m x 5.20m internal. Circular structure formed by an earth and stone wall. Three large flat slabs set on edge are incorporated in the bank on the SE side. No other stone visible. No obvious entrance. Lies 12m S of 'hut-circle'. (Formerly ND34SW 106).

R J Mercer 1985.

Three hut-circles are situated on a gentle, E-facing slope in heather moorland about 100m SW of Groat's Loch.

The first hut-circle (ND 31246 40691; YARROWS04 019), the westernmost, measures 6.1m in diameter within a wall 1.2m in thickness and 0.5m in height. The inner and outer wall-faces are constructed of slabs set on edge. On the S, where the wall is best preserved, the weight of the wall-core has displaced the facing stones so that the inner face now leans heavily into the interior. The entrance appears to have been on the SE, where there is a marked dip in the crest of the bank.

The second hut-circle (ND 31251 40668; YARROWS04 020), which lies 14.5m SSE of the first and is crossed by a post-and-wire fence, measures 6m in diameter within a wall reduced to a stony bank up to 2.1m in thickness and 0.7m in height on the N. The entrance passage, which is about 0.7m in width, is on the SE and is faced by two opposed slabs. Immediately to the N of the entrance and within the thickness of the wall, there is a rectangular structure defined on all sides by small slabs set on edge. Internally, this structure measures 1.6m from NNE to SSW by 1m transversely and the slabs along the WNW edge, nearest the inner face of the wall, are markedly lower than those on the other three sides. A break in the hut-circle wall on the NE is probably a result of the erection of the modern fence.

The third hut-circle (ND 31327 40724; YARROWS04 026) lies immediately S of a ruined stone dyke, on top of a low knoll 80m ENE of the other two. It measures 5m in diameter within a stony bank, which is best preserved to either side of the entrance on the S, where it is 1.4m in thickness and 0.5m in height. The line of the wall is poorly defined on the N, where it may have been robbed to build the adjacent dyke.

(YARROWS04 019, 020, 026)

Visited by RCAHMS (JRS), 24 May 2004.