31558: LSFH 28 Sideval – FIELD SYSTEM (Post Medieval – 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Summary:

FIELD SYSTEM (Post Medieval – 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
Pre-crofting field system

Location:

NB 27648 16643

Full description:

"Located on the south facing slopes of the north shore of Loch Seaforth Head, these broad, hand dug rigs run generally downhill from north to south. The system consists of 20 rigs, 10 either side of a gully that may have acted as a drainage ditch also running downslope from north to south. To the west of the gully the rigs are typical feannagan, slightly narrower, sinuous in their track and rounded in their section. To the east of the gully the rigs are straighter in their line, broader and square in section. The difference in the form from west to east suggests that, as a whole, the system is likely to date to the late pre-crofting and early crofting phases, with the westerly rigs being formed first and the easterly ones being dug later as land use intensified and methods of cultivation changed." (Burgess 2004, 38)

References:

Chris Burgess, Northamptonshire Archaeology. 2004. Northamptonshire Archaeology Archaeological Survey and Evaluation of Eilean Chalium Chille and the Putative Site of the Seaforth Head Castle. Part No Loch Seaforth Head Gazeteer.

Acknowledgement:

Information provided by Western Isles Council Sites & Monuments Record, January 2006.