Building record MHG19074 - Farmstead- Badan

NC81SE 1 850 1282
A farmstead, comprising an unroofed building and an enclosure, is depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Sutherland 1879, sheet lxxxviii). Three unroofed buildings and two enclosures are shown on the current edition of the OS 1:10560 map (1963).
Information from RCAHMS (AKK) 23 October 1995.

Enclosure, NC 85617 12769.
E corner of small, 5m x 5m, square pen, with its coarsely constructed walls of large boulders surviving to 1m thick and 0.5m high, although its lower, SE wall is only 0.6m thick and has a possible central entrance. The walls are parallel and perpendicular to the contours, the latter trend 162 degrees down a bracken-covered 50 degreesslope, and the pen is set at the top of a steep slope which drops down to the lower river terrace of Allt Smeòrail below, on which is constructed a small rounded pen (not visited).

Linear Boundary Dyke, NC 85610 12772 to NC 85605 12781.
From the W corner of the square pen of Feature 224 (above), a stone and turf connecting wall continues along the same alignment as the pen’s NW, upper wall, trending 2520 for 1m, where it turns at right-angles to trend uphill 3370 for 10m, to link with the S corner of Feature 226 (below).

Building Remains, NC 85594 12811.
5m below, and to the SE of the existing access track, the NW gable of a stone walled 37m x 4m longhouse, constructed with its sidewalls trending 152 degrees down the heather-covered 5 degrees slope, at the small township of Badan (see Plate 32). The walls at the upper end of the longhouse (which has 2 internal divisions, before a SW-protruding outshot) are the most substantial, possibly indicating that the upper sections were in use after the lower sections had been abandoned. At the upper section, the walls survive up to 1m high and are 0.9m thick, and the first internal division defines a 4m x 4m square, upper area, then a subsequent lower internal division defines a 5m x 4m area. Below the 2nd division is the outshot, extending 5m from the SW sidewall and it is 3m wide. There is an entrance to the uppermost section on the NE side and also one to the SW side below the outshot.

Kale-yard, NC 85594 12811.
A kale-yard boundary, enclosing an area adjoining the NE side of the longhouse of Feature 226 (above), joins it at the top division on its NE side (i.e. 4m down from the N corner). From here, it trends 084 degrees for 28m, then turns sharply to trend 164 degrees downhill for 24m, with a ditch on its E side to a sharp corner, returning to trend 247 degrees to join the building remains of Feature 228 (below), 6m down from its N corner on its NE side. Its walls are raised, heather-covered peat mounds and it encloses an upper area of heather and a lower, boggy area of reeds.

Building Remains, NC 85625 12786.
N corner of former building, parallel to the longhouse of Feature 226 (above) and set to its S and E. It measures 14m x 4m, with its long sidewalls trending 158 degrees down the 5 degrees sloping, deep heather-covered hillside, with an entrance midway along its SW side. Its almost entirely moss and heather-covered stone and turf walls comprise 1.5m thick gable ends and 0.7m thick sidewalls, surviving to 0.4m high. <1>