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MHG10459 - Settlement - Kyle of Tongue

Summary

A deserted settlement consisting of several structures.

Type and Period (2)

Protected Status

Full Description

An unnamed group of four ruined buildings within a possible enclosure dyke.
OS 6" map (1961)

A minor deserted settlement, including a longhouse (at NC 5605 5477),
as described. Visited by OS (NKB) 6 November 1978.

This site is considerably more complex than the brief NMRS entry would suggest. On a knoll occupying a headland between the modern road and the shore is a deserted settlement consisting of several structures, an enclosing-wall, a kail-yard and an enclosing dyke. The longhouse survives to 0.6 m (five courses) high with well-faced, boulder-and-rubble packing constructed walls 0.8 m thick. This building measures 11 m N-S by 3.5 m internally. There is an entrance in the east wall. Abutting this structure and forming an enclosure at the west and NW is a turf-over-stone bank. The area enclosed measures 30 m N-S by 25 m and is irregularly-shaped. There is a 1 m wide entrance to this yard immediately north of the house. The depth of soil built up against the west wall of the bank and the greenness of the vegetation, suggest that this may have been a kail-yard. Approximately 95 m SSE of the yard is an area of probable cultivation, again defined by lush green vegetation. This area measures c 100 m N-S by 40 m and there are 10 m wide rigs in the S half and 3-4 m wide lazy-beds' in the north half. There is also a system of drainage cuts in this area.

Located 25 m north of the first longhouse .(see above) are the remains of another building. This structure measures 8 m N-S by 4 m internally and the walls survive up to 2 m high and are 0.8 m thick. There is a window in the east wall that has been blocked when another skin of stones was added to the outside of the walls. There is also a possible entrance on the south wall, framed by one in situ orthostat and another tumbled on the ground. There is a partition-wall or drain-cap across the south third of the interior. There is a three-sided extension at the north of this building which measures 5 m by 3.5 m and a further 9.5 m by 3.5 m (internally) rectangular, turf-clad bank abutts this at the north. This appears to represent several different phases of building on the same site. About 25.5 m north of this is another building aligned E-W and measuring 8.5 m by 2.6 m with a 1 m wide entrance on the south. There is a possible entrance in the north wall as well. There is an internal partition west of the entrance. This structure survives to a maximum 0.7 m high. This may be a threshing-barn with opposing entrances and aligned to take advantage of the wind. There are further elements to this complex which include a 3 m NNE-SSW by 2.5 m (internally) dry-stone structure standing to 1 m high which abutts the ephemeral remains of an earlier structure at the south end, defined by a low turf-bank. This is the most northerly of the buildings in this settlement. The whole settlement is enclosed by a 0.7 m high crudely-constructed dry-stone dyke and the east edge of the fields have been revetted at the coast-edge with a now ruinous dry-stone wall. There are further areas of cultivation and clearance-cairns at the east side of the headland. <1>

Sources/Archives (1)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NC 5601 5477 (298m by 428m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NC55SE
Geographical Area	SUTHERLAND
Civil Parish	TONGUE

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (1)

Related Investigations/Events (1)

External Links (1)