MHG53692 - Sheep enclosure - River Loanan
Summary
A stone built bank/dyke forming part of an enclosure of field system.
Type and Period (2)
- ENCLOSURE (Post Medieval - 1560 AD to 1900 AD)
- FANK (Post Medieval - 1560 AD to 1900 AD)
Protected Status
- None recorded
Full Description
Surveyed by the Assynt's Hidden Lives project in November 2009. A stone built turf covered bank/dyke was observed forming part of an enclosure or field system which may have been truncated by the road, as it appears to continue on the east side of the road. There are no obvious internal features although it probably also enclosed a circular drystone built sheep fold. The walls of the sheep fold stand up to 1m high at a width of c.0.75m. There is a possible entrance on its south-west corner where one edge is neatly squared off, but the other side has collapsed. <1>
Historic Assynt visited this site in March 2015.
Stell/Sheepfold - the central one of three very similar ones along this hillside. 11.10m diam and built of predominantly worked stone standing 1.5m high with a .30m layer of turf along the top. The walls are well built, still standing to full height for most of the circuit and .80m wide with a doorway (collapsed) to the southwest all as recorded as MHG 53692 but see below. Construction and use of worked stone suggest later nineteenth century or more recent estate workmanship. There are a toatal of four stells (three of almost identical size and construction and one much larger and less well constructed) on the west facing slopes to the east of the A837 between the Bone Caves and Loneymore. The northerly one close to the Bone Caves path is recorded as MHG53694. This one has been wrongly referred to as a shooting stand. Records of the two further south accompany this report. The larger stell appears less well constructed and earlier than the this and the two similar ones suggesting that the three similar ones replaced the single stell at some point in the later nineteenth century. <2>
GIS data amended in 2019 based on location of feature as seen on 2016 vertical Aps. <3>
Sources/Archives (3)
- <1> SHG24882 Text/Report/Fieldwork Report: Cavers, G. & Hudson, G.. 05/2010. Assynt's Hidden Lives: An archaeological survey of the parish. AOC Archaeology Group and Historic Assynt. 01/08/2010. Digital. 38, p.81.
- <2> SHG29805 Text/Correspondence: Historic Assynt. 2015. Stronchrubie reports from Gordon Sleight, Historic Assynt. Yes. Digital.
- <3> SHG28059 Image/Photograph(s)/Aerial Photograph/Vertical: Get Mapping. 2016. Getmapping aerial photography 2016. XY
Map
Location
Grid reference | Centred NC 2528 1706 (110m by 117m) (2 map features) |
---|---|
Map sheet | NC21NE |
Geographical Area | SUTHERLAND |
Civil Parish | ASSYNT |
Finds (0)
Related Monuments/Buildings (0)
Related Investigations/Events (1)
External Links (0)
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