Monument record MHG10021 - Henge, Loch Migdale

NH69SW 36 6242 9160.
Hut Circle (NR) OS 25"map, (1967)
Hut Circle. RCAHMS 1911, visited 1909. <1>

A well-preserved 'henge/barrow/cairn' situated on a low, dry rise close to the shore at the head of Loch Migdale. It measures 12.0m overall and comprises a level, circular platform 7.4m in diameter, surrounded by a ditch 1.1m wide and 0.2m deep, outside which there is a bank 1.2m wide and 0.2m high, revetted externally by a discontinuous line of small horizontal blocks. The bank is broken on the SE, where there is a gap leading to a causeway across the ditch. Both gap and causeway, about 0.6m wide, are slightly mutilated. There are a few clearance heaps in the vicinity.
Visited by OS (W D J) 11 June 1963 and (N K B) 14 November 1969.

Excavation of a segment of the work was undertaken by Dr Woodham in 1971. A layer of dark "burnt" earth forming a rim "about 3ft wide" around the central area, and a scatter of quartz chips were revealed, but no other finds were made. The interior appeared undisturbed and there was no evidence of barrow or cairn material. Dr Woodham (Clava, Inverurie) considers that this work is of the same category as the hengiform earthworks of Easter Ross (NH45NW 1, NH55NW 1, and NH55NE 5). The excavation has been backfilled.
Visited by OS (N K B) 6 October 1980.

Scheduled 04/03/2004.
Excavated by Time Team 4/2003, reexcavated original quarter section plus a little more to confirm structure. Bank, ditch, but also internal post holes and an upright stone outside the entrance - pers comm C Dagg. <2>

Report on Time Team evaluation, carried out in 2003. A geophysical survey was followed by the excavation of a trench measuring 34.61 sq m, around Woodham's central test pit.

The re-examination of the putative henge in Area 1 broadly supports Woodham’s original interpretation of the monument as a henge. It has an external bank and internal ditch and single, east-facing, entrance. The single entrance would allow it to be classified as a Class 1 henge but the small size, a mere 12 m diameter, is consistent with its classification as a mini-henge.

The presence of what may be a ring of stake holes, and perhaps a radial division, a central feature that may have held a post or a standing stone, and the standing stone at the entrance all refer to well known features in henges, albeit much better known on a larger scale. <3>

The site of this henge is visible in an oblique aerial photograph by Jim Bone. <4>