Monument record MHG9852 - Kilphedir Burn

Summary

No summary available.

Location

Grid reference Centred NC 9920 1985 (216m by 290m) (Buffered by site type)
Map sheet NC91NE
Geographical Area SUTHERLAND
Old County SUTHERLAND
Civil Parish KILDONAN

Map

Type and Period (2)

Full Description

NC91NE 30 992 198.
(Three) Enclosures (NR) OS 6"map, (1964)

On E side of Cille Pheadair burn, about 1 mile N of its junction with the Helmsdale River, is a group of three contiguous enclosures, two of which appear to have been cattle or sheep folds. A horn projects on W side of entrance to most easterly one. An opening has been broken through the banks of this and the northerly enclosure, apparently at a later date. Near the three enclosures are a dozen or so small mounds. Some 30 yards N, on the end of a slight knoll, is a cup-shaped hollow, with an opening to S, 10' in diameter and apparently lined with stones. Some 30 yards S is a circular enclosure with traces of an inner compartment.
RCAHMS 1911, visited 1909.

The three contiguous enclosures comprise a hut circle (A) an enclosure (B), and a semi-enclosed area. In the interior of the hut are traces of two small compartments. Some 40m W of hut A is another hut circle (C) that is almost certainly the last enclosure noted by the RCAHMS. The cup-shaped hollow could not be identified. The mounds are probably field clearance heaps.
Visited by OS (W D J) 20 May 1960.

There are three stone-walled houses (A-C) in association with a field system. The situation is rising moorland open to S. The huts are reduced and heather-covered but seem broadly similar.
'A' is 9m diameter inside a wall of main width 2m broadening to 3m at an obscure entrance from SSE. The ground to rear of the hut is partially enclosed on N and E sides, by a low scarp scooped from the ascending slope and joining to the NE arc of the hut.
'B' is 9.5m diameter internally. The wall has a general spread of 3m that increases to 4.5m at a clubbed entrance, 3m wide, from the S. A form of forecourt precedes the entrance, evidenced by a seemingly built-up and levelled crescentic area 4.5m x 3m, partially enclosed on S and W sides, by a low curving bank that connects in W of entrance.
'C' is 9m inside diameter. The wall, at a choked entrance, from the SSE, is spread to 3.5m but in NNW has been broken through, and elsewhere is vague.
The alleged traces of inner compartments in huts A and C are too tenuous to be conclusive. In slope some 90m N of hut C is a low depression, Approx 3.5m diameter, inside a vaguely suggested bank. No stone is apparent. This may be the cup-shaped hollow referred to but it seems natural or at best a surface quarry.
The field system occupying four hectares, is best distinguished by a stone-free close-cropped appearance marked with scattered field clearance heaps, except to N of hut B where there is an appreciable concentration. There are occasional substantial lynchets, and in the vicinity of the huts, indecisive signs of a pattern of field banks.
Re-urveyed at 1:10,560. Visited by OS (J M) 1 JUly 1976.

Sources/Archives (1)

  • --- Text/Report: RCAHMS. 1911. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions of Scotland. Second report and inventory of monuments and constructions in the county of Sutherland. . 116-17, No. 332.

Finds (0)

Protected Status/Designation

Related Monuments/Buildings (1)

Related Events/Activities (1)

Record last edited

Nov 7 2016 3:30PM

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