Wheen

NO37SE 58 36555 70574

A township comprising twelve buildings, two huts and a kiln is situated immediately NE of a ruined head-dyke meandering across unimproved pasture at the foot of the SW flank of Ben Tirran. The township extends across an area of some 500m from NW to SE and its SE end coincides with an area containing hut-circles and cultivation remains (see NO37SE 26). The buildings range in size from 2.8m to 9.8m in length by up to 3.4m in breadth within walls largely reduced to grass-grown stony banks. All of the buildings appear to have stone walls except one (CLOVA99 485), which has walls of turf and stone.

The structures are disposed in two main groups. At the NW end of the area there is a cluster of five buildings, a hut and the kiln. The group at the SE end comprises five buildings, but between the two groups there are two other buildings (CLOVA99 470 & NO 36608 70414), a hut (CLOVA99 469) and an enclosure.

Of the buildings in the NW cluster, three (CLOVA99 431, 433, 464) overlie earlier buildings and one (CLOVA99 429) lies immediately E of an enclosure. The kiln (CLOVA99 434), which lies immediately N of this group, measures 2.1m in diameter within walls reduced to banks 1.9m in thickness and 0.6m in height. The hut in this group (CLOVA99 428) measures 3.8m from N to S by 2m transversely within rubble walls 1m in thickness and 0.2m in height.

Of the buildings in the SE group, one (CLOVA99 485) contains two compartments, another (CLOVA99 481) has an outshot attached, and two (CLOVA99 485 & 486) have enclosures attached.

(CLOVA99 428-434, 464, 469, 470, 481, 483-485)

Visited by RCAHMS (DCC) 8 April 1999