Monument record MHG28205 - Cnoc a' Leacachan

The remains of three roundhouses and associated clearance cairns were found during a watching brief carried out by J Wordsworth in 1996 on works for a new access road and contractors' compound for the new Novar Windfarm. The best-preserved hut circle was oval, 11 x 8m internally with a probable entrance to the southeast. One roundhouse, 10m in internal diameter, was partially exposed during the construction work and it had already been damaged by the existing road. The exposed section was drawn and a radiocarbon sample (2400?60 BP) taken from a possible wattle fence lining the inner face of a ?turf bank 2m wide. The interior of the house was not excavated and was sealed by terram matting before the road metalling was laid. One worked quartz flake was found outside the structure. About half of the building remains undisturbed. <1> <2>

This group of hut circles was visited by Ross and Cromarty Archaeological Services in 2013 during a walkover survey in advance of a proposed woodland creation scheme on the Novar Estate. Only one of the hut circles was found and it was recorded in as much detail as the dense vegetation allowed. An amorphous area contiguous to the east side of the road may have bene the hut circle partly excavated in 1996. In addition short lengths of stone and turf dykes and several clearance cairns were identified on the east side of the access road (see MHG). <3>