Building record MHG53722 - Shepherd's House, Poll Tigh Charraigein

Shepherds house and outbuilding surveyed by Historic Assynt.
House S (NC 15964 28336) is the well built rectangular Shepherd’s house of 1811 aligned NW - SE. It is situated to take full advantage of the sun towards the top of amphitheatre bowl but is rather exposed to northerly winds. Divided into a domestic area (S1) and a non-connecting byre (S2) with a separate entrance (S2a), the whole building is of good quality dry-stone build with 8 courses of carefully selected stones and pinnings in the longer walls, quoins at the corners and smaller ones for the doorways and windows. The latter also have well chosen lintels and sills. The walls of S1 and much of S2 stand to eaves height but the SW wall of S2 has partially collapsed. The top few courses of the gable walls have also collapsed and the lintel of the central doorway (S1a) in the NE wall is missing. In the SW wall there are two windows (S1b and S1c) approx .60 square. The sill of the S1c is missing. In the E corner of S1 a small alcove .25m square has been built into the gable wall. On the outside of the SE gable are the remains of a small crudely built dairy or pen (S4) which may have been added during the time the house was occupied or subsequently. The lowest courses of the NE gable of S2 consist of large stones which project beyond the wall line and act as a revetment for the main structure. However the line of this revetment continues as an embanked arc (S3) to the SW of S2 and is again revetted with stone as it curves towards doorway S2a. This suggests that the revetment and bank could be the foundations of an earlier semi-circular ended structure aligned at right angles to House S and running under it.

Four metres to the SE of S1 is a small rectangular dry-stone outbuilding (S5) measuring 3.5m x 2m aligned NE – SW. The walls only survive to one or two courses and there is a doorway (S5a) at the SE end of the SW wall. <1>