Monument record MHG17498 - Klibreck Township

NB NC53SE0003 deleted as duplicate of this site. GR is corrected above to cover the (western end of the) large scheduled area which extends from 259041933887 on W to 259748933984 on E - HAW 11/2003

NC53SE 3.00 centred 5908 3375
NC53SE 3.01 598 342 Farmstead
NC53SE 3.02 587 337 Enclosures
See also NC53SE 4 and 5.

(Centred NC 5908 3875) Klibrig is a settlement of about four houses, on the W side of Kilbreck Burn, with arable.
W Roy 1747-55

A large area of depopulation with the mutilated foundations of many buildings and enclosures. The buildings vary in size from about 5m by 13m to 25m by 4m, the walls being barely 0.1m high. Within the area are several stretches of stone walls and fragments of turf banks together with many stone clearance heaps. The building at NC 5939 3389 has a kiln in its S end, built into the slope.
Visited by OS (WDJ) 6 May 1961

Klibreck, a deserted township as described by the previous field investigator. Vague traces of strip cultivation are visible in places around the building foundations.
Visited by OS (JB) 27 June 1980

A township comprising twenty-nine unroofed buildings, twelve enclosures, areas of cultivation and a partial head-dyke is depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Sutherland 1878, sheet liv). To the NE is a farmstead (3.01: 598 342) and to the SW is an enclosure (3.02: 587 337). Fifty-seven unroofed buildings, eighteen enclosures and a head-dyke are shown on the current edition of the OS 1:10,560 map (1963).
Information from RCAHMS (SAH) 10 October 1995.

The monument consists of a deserted township, within the boundaries of which are a cross-incised standing stone and a further standing stone, together with the footings of a probable pre-Reformation chapel.
The deserted settlement is very extensive and includes examples of a number of different types of structure, possibly dating over an extended period of time. Traces of settlement stretch both E and W of the Klibreck Burn. Some structures are represented by turf-covered footings, others have substantial foundation stones remaining, and some have denuded walls remaining several courses high. The buildings include round or oval structures, rectangular long-houses, smaller rectangular buildings, at least one kiln barn, enclosures and field boundaries in several complex groups. Such remains are difficult to assign precise dates to, but could date from between AD 1500 and the early 19th century. Klibreck was a substantial settlement, with at least ten families prior to the Clearances.
In a boggy area close to the burn are the footings of a rectangular structure, aligned E-W, measuring approximately 6.0m E-W by 5.0m N-S. It is suggested that these are the remains of a pre-Reformation chapel. Surrounding the footings are faint traces of an irregularly-shaped enclosure measuring some 19m E-W by 6m N-S at its W end and 12m N-S at its E end. Two standing stones, both of undressed schist, remain at the E end of the enclosure, flanking a possible entrance. The northern of the stones is plain, but the southern bears a cross on its N face (facing across the possible entrance). The cross is long-shafted with its arms expanding towards the ends and the angles rounded at the armpits. The cross-incised stone measures approximately 1.16m high by 0.35m wide. The cross-slab supports the traditional identification of the remains as those of a chapel.
Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 10 January 1997.