31627: LSFH 25.4 Beinn Iobheir – BLACKHOUSE

Summary:

BLACK HOUSE (Post Medieval – 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
HOUSE (Post Medieval – 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
COW HOUSE (Post Medieval – 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
LONGHOUSE (Post Medieval – 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
Blackhouse

Location:

NB 28483 16542

Full description:

"Situated on the southern slopes of Beinn Lobheir, above the north shore of Loch Seaforth Head the fragmentary remains of this blackhouse have been cut/truncated by the line of the modern Balallen to Eisgean road. Orientated from north to south they measure 7 x 5 metres and stand up to 1 metre tall. Much of the stone wall facing has been removed, presumably to contribute to the building of some crofting phase structure closer to the shore, leaving only the very largest stones and the earth core surrounding what must have been the house (uphill) end of the house. To the south of the modern road are the remains of a stone edged platform measuring 2 metres from north to south and 3 metres from west to east. This feature is on the general alignment of the house remains to the north of the road, though how it relates to that house is unclear as the relationship between the two features is obscured by the road." Part of: "The fragmentary remains of a blackhouse settlement can be seen along the line of the Balallen to Eisgean road where it turns to the east and runs parallel to the north shore of Loch Seaforth Head. Consisting of two blackhouses (25.2 and 25.4), a well (25.3) and cultivation features (25.1 and 25.5) the settlement is likely to date to the pre-crofting period as the focus of early crofting and later settlement is located to the south within the extents of the modern crofts immediately above the shore of the loch. The surrounding area was cleared a number of times from 1610 onwards (with the arrival of the MacKenzies) through to the early 1820s. When the site was visited for the 1st edition Ordnance Survey in the late 1840s no occupied settlement was recorded in the area. The preservation of these structures suggests that they probably relate to the last pre-crofting clearances in the area (1823?). The full extent of the settlement has been obscured by the construction of the modern road, and by stone robbing for the construction of the crofting phases structures located to the south on the loch shore." (Burgess 2004, 36 and 37-38)

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.