Monument record MHG57234 - Hut circle - Slat Bheinn, Skye (Cille Mhaire 10 (50b), (SG004))

A hut circle (50b - No.10 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 robbed 12m diameter hut circle, lies 30m to the south of 50c. <1>

The site was included by M Wildgoose, with a slightly amended diameter, in a catalogue of hut circles which combined the results of surveys on the Strathaird, Torrin and Sconser Estates. It is set on a natural level terrace at the foot of the sloping southeast facing hillside of Slat Bheinn. A sub-circular earth bank 1.8m thick retains traces of a boulder facing to both its inner and outer faces. The interior measures 9m in diameter. The wall expands to 2.5m in thickness at the west-facing entrance, which unusually faces slightly up the slope. A second gap through the wall lies 2m to the south of the entrance. The whole site has been extensively disturbed and has probably seen use as a stone quarry. <2>

153960 818302 Cille Marie Glen 10 (MW 50b) SG004: The structure 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 sub-circular stone structure is 50b in M Wildgoose survey of Strathaird for John Muir Trust in 1999. It is part of a group ranged along contour around 100m across, and also is close to 50a, SG005 (see MHG28977), and 50c, SG006 (see MHG57235). The site has been robbed of stone. It is hard to distinguish the exact shape. Wall construction not clear now but MW survey indicates double skin. The visible remains of this much robbed site consist of a sub-circular earth bank with a few boulder facing stones on inner and outer faces. The site is on a natural terrace at the foot of the SE facing slopes of Slat Bheinn. External average diameter is approximately 10m, internal diameter could not be measured. The 1999 survey found wall thickness of 1.8m, thickening to 2.5m at the W facing entrance, which faces up-slope. There is a further gap In the wall 2m S of this entrance. This HC may be associated with SG005 (20m), SG006 (20m) and SG003 (see MHG) (100m). <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 2010 vertical APs [IS-L 22/02/2017].