Documents

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The legal document available for download below constitutes the formal designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The additional details provided on this page are provided for information purposes only and do not form part of the designation. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within this additional information.

• Type

  Legal Documents

  Title

  SM5879_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600011776)

Summary

Description

The monument consists of two chambered burial cairns, one with a secondary Iron Age aisled house constructed into it, and a standing stone lying between the two cairns.

The remains all lie on the S slopes of South Clettraval, and command extensive open outlooks to the S and W. The S cairn, called Tigh Cloiche, has been disturbed by the construction of shielings, and its chamber is exposed. The cairn has measured at least 30m in diameter, but the S and W sides are too spread to allow an accurate measurement. Towards the centre is exposed a narrow, parallel-sided chamber of large blocks. The entrance was from the E.

Some 220m to the NNW is a single large standing stone, 1.6m high by 1.1m wide. A further 180m NNW are the remains of a second mutilated chambered cairn with later occupation as an Iron Age settlement. This site was excavated in 1934 and 1946-8. The cairn is a large mound, built into the hillside, with remains of the S and E sides of a peristalith of large boulders implying a rectangular plan.

The chamber, which opens to the E, is in five sections, and is of the "passage grave"type. To the W of the chamber are the remains of an aisled round house with several outbuildings, including a sub-rectangular structure interpreted as a byre. All of these later structures lie within the curve of the W part of a wall which may once have encircled the whole site. The remains of this complex were not completely excavated, and archaeological deposits survive.

The area to be scheduled is in two parts: a 100m square, aligned N-S, containing the SE cairn and an area around it, and a triangle with N side of 200m, E side of 235m and SW side of 310m containing the NW cairn, the aisled house and outbuildings and the standing stone, together with an area around them in which further remains may survive, all as marked in red on the accompanying map.

Statement of National Importance

The monument is of national importance as a group of Neolithic ritual monuments which have the potential to provide information about prehistoric funerary and ritual architecture and burial practices, with Iron Age remains which are important in themselves, as one of the most complete non-defensive Iron Age complexes so far identified in the Western Isles, and for the light it may shed upon the frequently observed phenomenon, throughout northern Scotland, of the Iron Age re-use of chambered tombs as dwelling-places.

References

Bibliography

About Scheduled Monuments

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Scheduling is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for monuments and archaeological sites of national importance as set out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.

We schedule sites and monuments that are found to be of national importance using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Scheduled monument records provide an indication of the national importance of the scheduled monument which has been identified by the description and map. The description and map (see ‘legal documents’ above) showing the scheduled area is the designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The statement of national importance and additional information provided are supplementary and provided for general information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within the statement of national importance or additional information. These records are not definitive historical or archaeological accounts or a complete description of the monument(s).

The format of scheduled monument records has changed over time. Earlier records will usually be brief. Some information will not have been recorded and the map will not be to current standards. Even if what is described and what is mapped has changed, the monument is still scheduled.

Scheduled monument consent is required to carry out certain work, including repairs, to scheduled monuments. Applications for scheduled monument consent are made to us. We are happy to discuss your proposals with you before you apply and we do not charge for advice or consent. More information about consent and how to apply for it can be found on our website at www.historicenvironment.scot.

Find out more about scheduling and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.