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MHG7599 - Shieling settlement - Allt Na Criche

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Full Description

Six shieling bothies and sheep fank. (No details given.)
M MacDonald 1992. <1>

This is a scattered shieling area with not all of the structures sited by small burns.
a) NG84275872 This sub-square shieling structure is sited to the S of an area of peat cuttings. It measures c3m in 'diameter' over stones c0.2m high and c0.3m wide.
b) NG84385889 This sub-square shieling structure is sited to the N of the peat cutting area. It measures c3.5m by c3m over stones c0.3m high and c0.4m wide.
c) NG84585902 This rectangular drystone structure measures c5m by c2.5m over walls c0.4m high spread to c0.8m.
d) NG84305913 This rectangular shieling structure measures c4m by c2m over stones c0.3m high and 0.4m wide.

A group of features form the remains of a shieling ground.
A) About 12m NE of the fold at NG 8455 5884 is a grassy knoll almost certainly the site of a former shieling bothy, though no structure is now evident.
B) About 17m N of the fold is a probable grass-covered shieling bothy measuring c4m by c3m and aligned WNW/ESE.
C) About 17m NE of b) is a rectangular drystone walled structure c4m by 2.5m and aligned WNW/ESE. The corners are rounded and the walls stand up to c0.75m high and 0.4m wide though the S wall has collapsed into the structure.
Between b) & c) and close to the burn is a wee stone structure c1m in diameter, probably a dairy store.
D) About 24m NE of a) is a drystone shieling structure measuring c4m by c2.5m and aligned WNW/ESE. The walls only survive up to c0.6m high and c0.4m wide but there is considerable stone tumble around the structure.
About 60m S of TOR098 at NG84555878 there is a drystone revetted hollow,
measuring c5m by c3m and aligned NW/SE which has been excavated into the peat and subsoil to a depth of clm. It may have been an animal pen with an entrance from the SE.
On the opposite, E side of the Alit na Criche is a heather clad knoll clm high above the surrounding moss. It seems to have a cairn or structure c3m by c2m aligned E/W on top of it. The heather growth is too dense for this to be positively identified. <2>

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Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NG 8442 5896 (637m by 549m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NG85NW
Geographical Area	ROSS AND CROMARTY
Civil Parish	APPLECROSS

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