Monument record MHG43513 - Lazy Beds, Achnahaird Bay

On the E side of Achnahaird Bay, N of the outflow from Loch a' Chaoruinn, there is a boat naust, a small hut, and numerous small areas of lazy-bed cultivation. The naust is situated on the shore at NC 0217 1326 (ACHIL94 463). It measures 8.7m NW-SE by 7.1m transversely within grassed-over stony banks 0.7m thick, and it is divided into two compartments, both open towards the shore. According to local information it was last used in 1940, when the boat kept there sailed for Dunkirk (ex inf KHJ MacLeod, Polbain). About 130m to the SE, on the E side of a rocky knoll at NC 0224 1314, there are the remains of a rectangular hut, built of faced-rubble with squared-corners and measuring internally 4.6m from NE to SW by 2.6m transversely (ACHIL94 462). About 150m to the E of this hut, amongst rocks at the rear of a cultivated terrace at NC 0239 1315, there are the remains of what may be a second hut or a pen. The lazy-beds are located on the shore to the N of these structures, and on terraces and in gullies in the rocky terrain above the shore. Altogether about 3ha of cultivation was recorded in an area extending about 650m along the edge of the bay and reaching about 200m back from High Water Mark.
May's 1758 survey of the Barony of Coigach (SRO, RHP 85395) depicts an area of rig and an area of 'good grass' to the N of the burn flowing from Loch a' Chaoruinn. Morrison's 1775 survey (SRO, E746/189) shows less arable ground, but annotates as 'shealing' the area around the burn flowing from Loch a' Chaoruinn. The hut (ACHIL94 462) is depicted, roofless, on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Cromartyshire (Detached) 1881, sheet ib).
(ACHIL94 462-3)
Visited by RCAHMS (SDB) 10 August 1994