Monument record MHG25171 - Eriboll

Created automatically by NMRS Register Utility
User: Admin, Date: Fri 10 Mar 2000
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NC45NW 9.01 428 559.

(Centred NC 429 559) Settlement in the form of hut circles, stone heaps and enclosures occurs between 80ft and 230ft OD on predominantly W-facing, gentle to moderate slopes.
The hut circles occur at NC 4269 5597 (A), NC 4278 5591 (B) NC 4285 5596 (C), NC 4298 5599 (D), NC 4292 5595 (E), NC 4293 5596 (F), NC 4292 5595 (approx) (G), NC 4296 5572 (H and J), NC 4270 5600 (K), NC 4297 5603 (L and M), NC 4302 5583 (N), and NC 4305 5585 (O). The walls are double-faced with rubble infill, and 'C' appears to be typical, with measurements of 20ft internally and 28ft externally, although 'B' is 38ft internally and 47ft externally. It has a very well-defined
entrance in the SW. D, E, F, L and M are set into the hillside.
The stone heaps range from 8 ft to 40 ft in diameter and appear to be a mixture of burial cairns and field clearance since one at NC 4293 5595 appears to have a central cist, and other, notably at NC 4268 5598, NC 4269 5595 and NC 4296 5573, have well-defined kerbs.
The circular enclosures at NC 4287 5594 and NC 4295 5571 were probably for stock. The former is 50ft in diameter with a double-faced wall of massive boulders and an entrance 8ft wide on the S. The latter is of similar construction with a wide entrance and is 47ft in diameter. Another enclosure, at NC 4297 5574, is slightly egg-shaped and measures 30ft by 22ft. The wall is double-faced with rubble infill and the entrance is in the W. It is well-presered but does not correspond to any of the early modern forms in the area and could be of any age. Information contained in letter and field notes from K Reid 25 September 1978.

Centred at NC 428 559, on an undulating, W-facing slope is a settlement of three hut circles (A - C) within an associated field system. Of the fourteen alleged hut circles noted by Reid only one (Reid 'B': OS 'A') can be classified as a hut; the others, where they can be identified, appear to be natural depressions, and in one case a surface quarry, choked with stones. The circular enclosure located by Reid at NC 4287 5594 is a hut (OS - B) but the other two enclosures cannot be found at Reid's grid references. There is no evidence to indicated burial cairns among the stone clearance heaps; the alleged cist and well-defined kerbs appear to be fortuitous arrangements of stones and boulders.
Hut 'A', the best preserved, has been set into the slope in the NE, and measures 11.5m in diameter within a heather-covered wall spread to 2.5m wide and up to 0.7m high.
'B' is situated on the upper side of a short change in slope. It measures about 11.0m in diameter within a wall of large stones, with a few inner and outer facing stones surviving. The wall is an estimated 1.3m wide and stands 0.4m high in the N half, in the S it is very indistinct.
'C', in a similar situation to 'B', is ill-defined and bracken-covered and measures internally an approximate 11.5m in diameter. The stone wall survives best in the NW where it is spread to 2.5m - 3.0m wide and 0.8m high; elsewhere it is vague. All three huts are entered from the S arc. The field system comprises cleared stone-free ground on the gentler slopes with scattered stone clearance heaps; no measurable cultivation plots are discernible. Some early modern cultivation has occurred within the area of the field system.
Surveyed at 1:10,000.
Visited by OS (J B) 8 October 1978.

A further two hut-circles, at NC 4294 5597 (MS 738/3, no.3) and at NC 42 80 5578 (MS 738/3, no.4) were recorded during the course of a pre- afforestation survey by AOC (Scotland) Ltd in addition to the three hut-circles recorded by the OS in 1978. That at NC 4294 5597 (MS 738/3, no.3) matches Reid's hut-circle 'F'. AOC suggest that the remainder of huts observed by Reid, but dismissed by subsequent authorities, are solution collapse hollows in the glacial till.
Two scatters of small cairns, NC 4294 5591 (MS 738/3, no.7) and NC 4294 5579 (MS 738/3, no.8) with stone-free ground between were also recorded in the area.
S Carter and M Dalland, AOC (Scotland) Ltd, 1993
NMRS MS 738/3