Monument record MHG23128 - Allt Lochan Fada

NH44SW 13 centred on 419 426
What may be a township comprising three unroofed buildings and an enclosure is depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Inverness-shire 1876-81, sheet ix) and on the current edition of the OS 1:10560 map (1971) where a head-dyke with an attached enclosure is also shown.
Information from RCAHMS (SAH) 14 May 1996

The site was visited, recorded and photographed by R Spencer-Jones on 23/10/2014. The three unroofed buildings and enclosure were identified in the middle of recently cleared forestry. The area in which they are sited is littered with forestry debris – brash, root stumps, churned ground from the tree-felling and clearing machines, and general debris. The trees were felled in the last year and – from the tree rings – were planted about 40 years ago.

Building 1: 188m alt, NH 41966 42509. Aligned NNE, in a shallow depression between two adjacent N-S ridges, just north of the un-named allt draining SW from Loch na Plangaid. The remains of this rectangular building have survived the recent forestry operations. The gable end on the southern wall survives to 1.2 metre high, whereas the rest of the building is no more than knee-high. There are two rooms, separated by an internal division, with entrances to the rooms being on the east wall and just either side of this division. Internal dimensions: southern room 6.5m N-S, 3.0m E-W, northern room 3.0m N-S, 3.0m E-W.

Building 2: 197m alt, NH 41966 42509. This rectangular building is aligned NNE along a narrow ridge, above the un-named allt draining SW from Loch na Plangaid. It lies about 15 metres west of Building 1. The walls stand about 0.5-0.75 m high, with the highest wall at the north end. There is one room with internal dimensions of 5.5m N-S and 3.5m E-W. The entrance is in SE corner. On the inside of the NW corner is a raised platform, now covered in tumble and debris. This could represent a hearth, or merely a twinning pen.

Enclosure: This is still discernible in the NW section, with the NW corner being at NH 41921 42626. However, there is much churning of the interior of the enclosure from tree-felling machines. The entire area is thickly covered in forestry brash and debris. The remaining west wall of the enclosure remains in its northern section, spread to approx 1m wide. The northern wall is much scattered but discernible from NW to NE corner.

Building 3: 184m, NH 41900 41650 This building is much destroyed, although it is still possible to make out its rough external dimensions – 8m N-S, 6m E-W. It sits on a gentle south-facing slope. Only the southern wall remains intact, approx 0.4m high. <1>