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MHG66427 - Hut circle - Manish More, Raasay

Summary

The remains lie on a slightly raised grassy slope with a steep rocky escarpment to the east.

Type and Period (1)

Protected Status

Full Description

Site recorded during a survey of the townships of North and South Screapadal plus the surrounding area carried out by the Association of Certificated Field Archaeologists (ACFA) in April 1998 as part of a continuing programme of recording the physical remains of human activity on the island of Raasay (Macdonald and Scott Wood 1997).

Feature 21; Hut circle. The remains lie on a slightly raised grassy slope with a steep rocky escarpment to the east and some 100m from the modem road. The escarpment is gouged by a narrow gully in which the upper waters of the Manish More burn plunge to pass on the north side of the hut site. It is clearly evident that the stream once passed immediately to the south of the hut site, but there is no way to determine whether the change in the stream course was prior to the occupation of the site.
On the southern side, the location is sheltered by raised ground but it is open and exposed to the squalls which frequently come southwards down the Sound of Raasay. The site has excellent prospect westwards across the water directly into Port Righ Bay (Portree, Isle of Skye).

The hut circle is small, having an internal diameter of 7m. There is no evidence of the ground level being raised at the front (we�) but at the rear, opposite the doorway, the slight slope has been scarped out. The stonework outlining the structure does appear to be wider at the entrance which is narrow, 0. 8m and facing slightly north of west. The stonework is sparse and disturbed. Within the hut circle are the remains of a shieling structure which is quite small, being barely 1.5m in diameter but with a small dairy store attached. This latter probably accounts for the loss of absolute stonework from the hut circle. Some 5.0m to the rear (W SW) of the hut circle is a 2m diameter depression 0.6m deep. The function and period of this is unclear. <1>


NGR adjusted based on 2023 vertical aerial photographs. <2>

Sources/Archives (2)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NG 5637 4381 (16m by 17m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NG54SE
Geographical Area	SKYE AND LOCHALSH
Civil Parish	PORTREE

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Investigations/Events (1)

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