Monument record MHG34442 - Caochan A' Mhanaich

Created automatically by NMRS Register Utility
User: Admin, Date: Wed 13 Oct 2004
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NH70SW 34 7360 0072

There are the remains of a farmstead, an enclosure, a large expanse of rig, some small cairns and a head-dyke on a ridge to the N of the Caochan a Mhanaich.
The farmstead lies on the N of the ridge near the edge of the terrace above the head of the Pitmain Burn (NH 7360 0072). It comprises two much reduced long buildings, both aligned from NNE to SSW, of which that to the NW is ill-defined at the NNE end, whilst its neighbour is 23m in length by 7.6m in breadth over stony banks spread to 2m in thickness and 0.2m in height; a drain is visible in the middle of the NNE end of the interior. The enclosure lies 130m to the SW (KING95 765, NH 7348 0065), and measures 10.7m from N to S by 6.8m internally.
The rig and small cairns extend over an area measuring 1000m from WNW (NH 7339 0069) to ESE (NH 7437 0053) by up to 150m transversely. The rig varies in width from 4m to 8m and occurs in two main areas, one at the E end of the ridge, and the other to the S of the farmstead (c.NH 7360 0067). The small cairns, which are best-preserved towards the W end of the ridge in the vicinity of the enclosure, measure up to 7m in diameter and 0.5m in height. The head-dyke defines an arc round the top of a rise at the E end of the ridge, and encloses two terraces below, on which there are traces of rig and lynchets created by ploughing across the slope (KING95 766).
The farmstead is not depicted on the Duke of Gordon's estate map of 1771 (SRO RHP 1859), but it does depict both of the terraces as cultivated ground. At that time the upper terrace was described as out of tillage at this date .
(KING95 765-7)
Visited by RCAHMS (PJD) 24 November 1995