Monument record 1039 - AIRIDH NA H-AON OIDHCHE, BENBECULA

NF85SW 5 8170 5247.

(NF 8170 5247) Airidhanah-aon oidche (NR)
OS 6'map, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1904)

Airidh na h-aon Oidche - a chambered cairn - slightly oval, 57ft by 47ft and up to 11ft high on the northern half but less on the southern part. A low tail to the south-west stretches for 63ft, giving the monument a length of 115ft. The rectangular foundations of a small building are situated at the junction of the tail with the main mound, on the north side. A spread of cairn material extends for 15ft from the steep north-east edge of the material. In the confusion of stones, two rough wall faces can be seen running radially from the mound. Except that they bear no relation to the axis of the cairn, they could be the inner faces of a pair of horns.
RCAHMS 1928; Information from TS of A S Henshall's 'Chambered Tombs of Scotland' Vol. 2, 1-2, plan.

Airidh na h-Aon Oidhche appears to be the remains of a round chambered cairn about 18.0m in diameter by 4.0m high. Several shielings have been built in, on and around the cairn making its shape irregular. The tail mentioned above is probably mutilation connected with the shielings. The entrance appears to have been in the west, and there are traces of a possible chamber, 3.0m in diameter,in the centre of the stone tumble. Surveyed at 1/10560.
Visited by OS (R D) 26 May 1965.

The monument known as Airidh na h-Aon Oidhche comprises a chambered cairn around which and into which later structures have been built. The cairn itself has been 18m in diatmeter and still stands to 4m high. The plan has been circular and a few upright stones representing the outer perimeter survive. The cairn was entered from the west, and what may be the upper stones of a central chamber 3m across can be seen in the centre of the mound. Later structures have been built to the SW and NE. These appear to be shielings, but in the NE traces of underlying walling suggest earlier disturbance. The area to be scheduled is circular, 50m in diameter, to include the cairn, the spreads of stone around it within which are the shielings, and an area of ground adjacent which may contain evidence for the construction, use and subsequent re-use of the site.
Entry in the Schedule of Monuments, HS

RCAHMS, 1928, The RCAHMCS 9th Report & Inventory: Outer Hebrides, Skye and the Small Isles, 102-3, No. 350 (Bibliographic reference). SWE5587.

R W Feachem, 1963b, A Guide to Prehistoric Scotland, 41 (Bibliographic reference). SWE2141.

R Miller, 1967, Scot Stud, 214 (Bibliographic reference). SWE5595.

A. Henshall, 1972a, The Chambered Tombs of Scotland, 495, UST 1 (Bibliographic reference). SWE3275.