Monument record MHG28978 - Hut circle - Slat Bheinn, Skye (Cille Mhaire 12 (51), (SG003))

A hut circle (51 - No.12 of 14) was recorded by M Wildgoose in 1999 at Cille Mhaire Glen, Strathaird, Skye, during a walkover survey in advance of a proposed forestry Woodland Grant Scheme for the John Muir Trust. A much disturbed 11m diameter hut circle. <1>

The site was included by M Wildgoose, with a slightly amended grid reference and diameter, in a catalogue of hut circles which combined the results of surveys on the Strathaird, Torrin and Sconser Estates. It lies on a negative platform cut into the slope at the foot of the southeast facing slope of Slat Bheinn. A small burn passes close by the east side of the site. The much-disturbed remains of the circular earth bank some 1.7m thick which surrounds an internal area which measures 8m in diameter. Traces of a stone facing to the bank survive on the south side, both on the internal and external faces. There is no obvious entrance but a small stone shieling which overlies the east side of the site may obscure this. <2>

153813 818162 Cille Mhaire Glen 12 (MW51) SG003: The hut circle was visited by A Welti and S Glover in 2009 as part of research for a dissertation on hut circles in Wester Ross. This was part of a degree course overseen by Aberdeen University. The Cille Mhaire hut circles lie on similar contour lines around the well drained lower flanks of surrounding hills. Vegetation is mainly rough grassland and the slopes are covered with a mosaic of ancient land divisions. The floor of the glen, into which many small burns tumble, consists mainly of blanket bog and contans the remains of a stone circle. This circular stone structure is 51 in M Wildgoose survey of Strathaird for John Muir Trust in 1999. It is part of a group ranged along a contour, around 100 m apart, and it is close to SG004 and SG005. The site lies on a platform at the foot of the gentle SE facing slope of Slat Bheinne. A small stream runs near to the E side of the site. The structure is very degraded. The inner diameter could not be measured accurately in this survey. Average outer diameter is 8.5m. The banking is 1.4m thick (in 1999 measured as 1.75m). The double skinned bank has inner and outer stone facings (see sketch). A stone sheiling overlies the bank to E side, and this may obscure an entrance. <3> <4>

[Note: a database was set up as part of research for the dissertation and was subsequently expanded as an extension of the We Digs Project (see website link below). The full access database can be made available to enquirers/researchers if requested - contact HER for details]

Note: NGR adjusted to position as seen on 1999-2001 vertical APs [IS-L 01/03/2017]. The grid reference supplied by M Wildgoose in the original 1999 report is not at the location shown on his plan.