Monument record MHG27304 - Tolain, Eigg

NM48NE 39 centred on 4785 8975

The visible remains comprise the footings of about two dozen buildings, a corn-drying kiln and several small yards and enclosures at the edge of an extensive system of irregular fields. The buildings are all roughly rectangular and usually have rounded external corners. In one instance, close to the centre of the township, two buildings are joined along one side, an arrangement commonly found amongst blackhouses in the Western Isles, where byres and other ancillary buildings would often be added to one side of the main house, rather than at its end. The fields around the township are enclosed by substantial turf and stone dykes, within which fragments of rig cultivation can be traced. Their wide variation in size and their irregular form strongly suggest a gradual, piecemeal process of expansion and enclosure of arable land. (Information from RCAHMS 2003)
(KC 08/2004)


A township, comprising two roofed, one partially roofed building, six unroofed structures, two enclosures and a field-system is depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Inverness-shire Island of Eigg 1879, sheet lxxi). One roofed structure which is part of the sheepfold, six unroofed buildings, four enclosures and the field-system are shown on the current edition of the OS 1:10000 map (1976).
Information from RCAHMS (AKK) 9 December 1996.