31640: LSFH 30.1 Aird Sithaig – ENCLOSURE

Summary:

ENCLOSURE (Medieval to Post Medieval – 1266 AD to 1900 AD)
PROMONTORY ENCLOSURE (Medieval to Post Medieval – 1266 AD to 1900 AD)
Promontory enclosure

Location:

NB 27463 16600

Full description:

"Located at the southern end of the Aird Sithaig headland is a wall or rampart (glacis) that cuts the headland from east to west, running 60 metres from shore to shore. This feature encloses an area 60 metres wide but only 12 metres deep (north to south), as the action of coastal erosion seems to have removed much of the southern end of the headland (as much as another 10-15 metres may have been eroded away in the last 500 years). The enclosing rampart stands up to 1.5 metres tall, is formed as an earthen bank, with a possible ditch outside its front (northern) face. There is little sign of a coherant stone face to the rampart though there is much loose stone along its face and top. In the centre of its length is a possible entrance 2 metres wide marked as a dip in the rampart and accentuated by two upstanding stones that seem to act as gateposts. The rampart/wall seems to have been formed along the line of a natural ridge of bedrock that crosses the headland. Use has been made of this natural feature, which has been enhanced to form the glacis and entranceway. Behind the wall there is a limited flat area before the ground dips off the natural ridge down towards the southern shore of the headland. Both on the flat ground and on the dipping shore slope a number of structures have been identified (30.2, 30.3 and 30.4)." "Located at the southern end of the Loch Sithaig headland, this promontory enclosure is the possible site of the MacKenzie castle that is supposed to have been built at the northern end of Loch Seaforth Head during the first years of the seventeenth century (1610?). The remains visible on the ground consist of a substantial glacis rampart (30.1) with an entrance at its centre, and a number of structures behind including two large cellular structures (30.3 and 30.4) and a rectangular building (30.2) immediately inside the entrance. The enclosed area seems small today (only 11 metres from the wall to the shore), however, there are clear signs that coastal erosion has considerably shortened the length of Aird Sithaig, as several of the features recorded have been cut by recent erosion events." (Burgess 2004, 42-43 and 45)

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.