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South Uist, Tigh Cloiche

Cairn (Prehistoric)

Site Name South Uist, Tigh Cloiche

Classification Cairn (Prehistoric)

Canmore ID 9944

Site Number NF74SE 4

NGR NF 79192 44722

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/9944

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Western Isles
  • Parish South Uist
  • Former Region Western Isles Islands Area
  • Former District Western Isles
  • Former County Inverness-shire

Archaeology Notes

NF74SE 4 7918 4473.

(NF 7916 4466) A cairn (?long) known as Tigh Cloiche, is situated about 1 1/2 miles SSW of the southern end of the South Ford at Carnan Iochclar and some 170 yards east of the main road through South Uist. The E end is higher, about 6ft above the depression surrounding the site, and this has been recorded as a round mound about 54ft diameter (RCAHMS 1928). The west end contains the foundations of two small buildings. Ruins here, interpreted in the Inventory as the remains of shielings, are thought by Henshall to be an integral part of the cairn, giving a total length of about 90ft.

She also thinks the damp hollow round the site is natural.

RCAHMS 1928; Cairn visible on RAF air photograph CPE/SCOT/UK 189: 1379-80: flown 10 October 1946; Information from TS for "Chambered tombs of Scotland" Vol. 2, A S Henshall.

Tigh Cloiche. The RCAHMS classification appears to be correct, this being a round cairn measuring 17.6m in diameter and 1.7m in height, mutilated on the W by shielings giving it a 'tail'. This has led Henshall to suggest it is a long cairn.

Surveyed at 1:10560.

Visited by OS (W D J) 12 May 1965.

Activities

Field Visit (25 June 1915)

Cairn, Tigh Cloiche, Carnan Iochdar.

Barely 1 ½ miles south-south-west of the southern end of the South Ford , at Carnan Iochdar, and some 170 yards east of the main road through the island, on rolling moorland, at an elevation some 20 feet above sea-level, is a cairn of stones known as Tigh Cloiche, which has been considerably disturbed. On the summit, on its western edge, and in the near neighbourhood, are the ruins of small houses or shielings built of stones removed from the cairn. It is nearly circular and now measures about 54 feet in diameter and 6 feet in height. It is surrounded by a broad hollow on the north, east and south, some 30 feet wide at least at the bottom, which possibly has been excavated, thus providing a plat on which to erect the cairn. There is a considerable amount of soil among the stones, but the structure is so dilapidated that it is impossible to detect any margin al setting of stones or traces of a chamber.

RCAHMS 1928, visited 25 June 1915.

OS map: South Uist xlv iii (unnoted) .

Field Visit (25 September 2010)

This cairn measures about 12m in diameter by 1m in height and has several large stones visible around its SW quadrant. Some small upright slabs are visible within a rectangular hole sunk into the surface of the mound, but there is nothing to suggest the presence of a chamber.

Visited by RCAHMS (SPH) 25 September 2010

Publication Account (2012)

Tigh Cloiche (Ust 32; NF74SE 4)

This site is situated in rough grazing land at approximately 6m above sea level, 2km west-southwest of Sig More and is a circular ‘cairn’ with a much lower rectangular tail to the west. The tail appears to consist of three roughly square buildings now surviving as grassed-over hollows. The westernmost hollow is 1.20m wide, the next 3m wide and the last 2.50m square. The circular mound is 23.60m in overall diameter with steep sides rising to a relatively flat summit 19.50m in diameter. Some exposed stones are visible but it is mostly overgrown with turf. Two hollows are visible, one in the centre of the mound with a slab 1m long, and one to the southwest. The latter clearly indicates the position of a roughly square building, 1.50m wide, similar to those in the tail, but that in the centre is too amorphous to be interpreted.

There is little evidence to support the idea that this site is a Neolithic chambered cairn. There are no earth-fast orthostats to indicate the presence of a façade, forecourt or a chamber. There are no large slabs of any description on the site or in its vicinity. Furthermore, the positioning of this site within the landscape is not at all consistent with the other cairns on South Uist. It lies in a flat area of moorland with extensive views in all directions. Most cairns are positioned on the edge of the uplands, normally on a hillslope, with views in one direction impeded. This site remains difficult to classify. The circular mound could be a Bronze Age cairn or even a wheelhouse. The rectangular tail is most likely to be more recent temporary shelters. Only excavation could resolve the issue.

Cummings, Henley and Sharples 2012, visited 1997 - 1999

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