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MHG65898 - Natural feature and occupation site - Tordarroch Cottage ('hut circle E')

Summary

A possible hut circle near Tordarroch Cottage.

Type and Period (3)

Protected Status

Full Description

A possible hut circle near Tordarroch Cottage. Not originally recorded by the OS but referred to subsequently as hut circle 'E' but thought by the OS later to be a natural feature. See MHG3938 for hut circle 'A', MHG65895 for hut circle 'B', MHG65896 for hut circle 'C' and MHG65897 for hut circle or feature 'D''.

Centred at NH 680 330 are two stone walled huts (A and B), a possible hut C, and several stone clearance heaps probably from contemporary cultivation plots.
Hut 'A' on a rise measures c. 13.5m NW-SE by c. 12.0m transversely between the centres of a denuded wall spread to c. 3.0m. Several blocks, some displaced, occur around the S arc. The entrance in the SE is mutilated.
Hut 'B', set into the base of a SW slope, is circular measuring c. 8.5m in diameter between the centres of a mutilated wall spread to c. 1.5m. The entrance is not evident.
'C', possible a hut circle, is defined by a stone wall spread to c. 4.0m, destroyed in the SE, and measuring c. 18.0m NE-SW between wall centres. No entrance is evident.
Apart from the clearance heaps, any other trace of associated cultivation has been destroyed by modern cultivation.
Visited by OS (A A) 20 April 1970.

Surveyed at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (A A) 7 January 1972.

The site was one of five hut circles recorded in the area during a survey by Archaeology Projects Glasgow in 1989 of lands around Tordarroch, Daviot and Dunlichty to identify and map archaeological monuments threatened by a proposed afforestation scheme. The survey recorded the three originally recorded by the OS and two additional ones 'D' and 'E'. The hut is separated from the other huts in the group by an overgrwon burn and is located on a level shoulkder of ahill. Conditions of its preservation are variable. In places the wall survives only as large boulders, elsewhere it is a low grassy spread 2.0m broad. It measures c.10m NW-SE by c. 8.5m. The entrance may be in the SE. <1>

On undulating, heather-covered moorland some 500m to the SE of Tordarroch House, there are three hut-circles, and a scattering of small cairns (NH63SE 43). Two other features, identified as hut-circles by Driscoll in 1989, appear to be largely natural.
OS hut 'A' sits on a slight rise above boggy ground at NH 6785 3306 and measures 11m from ESE to WNW by 10m transversely within a stony bank spread to 2m in thickness and standing to a height of 0.3m. The wall thickens on either side of the entrance, which is on the ESE (USN93 197).
Hut 'B', at NH 6800 3306, is set into the base of a slope on the NE. It measures 6m in diameter within a stony bank measuring 0.4m in height and spread to 1.8m in thickness. It has an entrance on the SSW (USN93 208). All that is visible of hut 'C', at NH 6813 3313, which lies immediately outside the fence surrounding the Free Church, is a length of bank, spread to 2.2m in thickness, forming part of the SW arc of the hut wall. Two other 'hut-circles' were identified by Driscoll in 1989, at NH 6801 3306 and NH 6776 3310 respectively. The former consists of an arc of possible bank and a drain, which together give a superficial impression of an enclosure, while the latter appears to be entirely natural.
(USN93 197, 208-9)
Visited by RCAHMS (SDB) 4 November 1992. <2>

The hut circle was visited by CFA Archaeology in 2014 during a walkover survey undertaken in advance of a proposed 275 Kv overhead line from the Knocknagael substation to a proposed new substation near Tomatin. It was noted as lying within an area of rough pasture. The remains were found to be as described by Driscoll. The RCAHMS suggest that feature (19e) is an entirely natural feature, but the remains of a circular, broad stone bank (spread 2 m max), albeit in a fragmentary condition, was found during the field survey, suggesting that this is the remains of a hut circle rather than a natural feature. <3>

The site was visited by AOC Archaeology Group in 2017 during an additional walkover survey undertaken in advance of the proposed 275 kV overhead line from the Knocknagael substation to a proposed new substation near Tomatin. It was found to consist of a heather-covered turf/boulder circular bank measuring 12m diameter overall, with banks spread up to 2m and up to 0.5m high, fragmentary in places, in a very degraded condition. <4>

On the old 1:10,000 SMR map there is some confusion as to which hut circle is actually which, clearly arising from an incorrect grid reference for Hut Circle 'A' given by Driscoll in his 1989 report. Although he shows it correctly on his plan of surveyed features, his reported grid reference would put it to the east on the other side of the road near the river. In his response to the Tordarroch Woodland Grant Scheme application in 1989, the then Highland Regional Archaeologist, Robert Gourlay, included an excerpt of the SMR 1:10,000 map and this shows what was known in the area prior to Driscoll's 1989 survey. This earlier version of the map shows and labels Hut circles 'A', 'B' and 'C' correctly. It is clear that Driscoll's incorrect grid reference for 'A' was included on a new version of the SMR 1:10,000 map leading to incorrect depictions and labelling, which meant that the true 'A' was left off and a spurious 'A' was created. This anomaly has also been checked and verified by cross-referencing all the surveys carried out in this area. As such the GIS spatial data was corrected in 2018. [IS-L 23/02/2018].

The site of the potential hut circle was subject to archaeological excavation by AOC Archaeology Group in 2018 during construction of a new overhead line transmission route. Although the site presented as a potential hut circle, the excavation concluded that it was in fact a modified, natural hollow in the hillside that had been used for small-scale purposes. The outer bank proved to be too ephemeral and crude to have formed a hut circle wall, although augmented to provide an element of shelter for the hollow. While the presence of two deep and well cut post-holes confirmed the use of the site as a structure, they were too few to have formed anything substantial. A small fire-pit appeared to have only had limited use suggesting a somewhat transitory usage of the site. A deposit of burnt material nearby suggested the fire-pit was cleaned out for re-use. It is unlikely to have been more than a fire setting for a temporary shelter. A few fragments of pottery and one piece of worked flint were recovered. <5>

Sources/Archives (5)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NH 6778 3310 (19m by 20m)
Map sheet	NH63SE
Civil Parish	DAVIOT AND DUNLICHITY
Geographical Area	INVERNESS

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Investigations/Events (4)

External Links (1)