Monument record 2275 - GOB EIRER

NB03NW 21 031 340


NB 050 360 In spring 1995 a team from the Department of Archaeology, University of Edinburgh carried out fieldwork in a 1000 hectare area between Uig sands and Aird Uig in Uig parish. The presence of the large machair area around UIg sands within this survey area lead to the examination of the state of coastal erosion not only on the machair but also along the cliff areas to the N and W along the Aird Uig Peninsula.
NB 0315 3397 Promontory fort.
A full report will be lodged with the NMRS.
Sponsors: Department of Archaeology (University of Edinburgh), Russell Trust, Council for British Archaeology, Archaeology Society, University of Edinburgh.
C Burgess and M Church 1995

281: NB 0315 3400
Promontory fort
Set on a promontory that is orientate north - south and is itself separated from the mainland mass by a boulder beach. This natural spur which commands the northern approach to the Camas Uig is cut by a wall that is up to 0.5m high, which runs the width of the promontory. This wall has two visible faces and is 20m long with a possible entrance 8m from its east end. Behind this wall is a second wall that is visible as a face, facing th enorth. The west side of this monument is revetted to prevent it slipping into the sea.
Burgess & Church 1996, 73-4


NB 031 340 Located on the N shore of the Camas Uig, immediately to the W of the township of Crowlista is the promontory stack known as Gob Eirer. On its landward side this stack is defended by a wall c 2m thick crossing its width with a roughly central entrance.
Phosphate sampling before excavation produced negative results. One trench was opened crossing the wall and extending into the interior with the aim of investigating the nature and establishing the date of the site. This trench revealed that the site had multiple phases and consisted of complex stonework. The entrance was c 1m wide with several phases of paving, the earlier of which led to a cobbled path running N-S. To the W and E of this cobbled path were the foundation courses of two rectilinear drystone structures with walls up to 1.5m wide. Both structures had clearly visible entrances, although time and remit constraints meant that their interiors could not be examined.
Excavation beneath the cobbled surface revealed four parallel ditches 0.2m wide and 0.1m deep and several stake-holes. It is unclear as yet whether these were original defensive features, cultivation, drainage, or even the remains of linear wooden buildings, though it is clear that they underlay and pre-dated the stone structures on the site. Large areas of cultivation on the shore next to the site appear to be related to pre-Improvement settlement in the immediate vicinity; however, it is possible that the first 8-10 rigs running parallel (E-W) to the erosion edge could be the remains of ancient rigging related to Gob Err as they are distinctly shallower and narrower than the pre-Improvement rigs inland.
Samples of pottery and charcoal, once analysed, will provide an accurate date; preliminary assessment indicates that this site may relate to Norse or Early Christian occupation in the late 1st millennium AD.
Sponsors: Historic Scotland, Edinburgh University Archaeology Department, Russell Trust.
C Burgess, J Dempsey, S Gilmour and A Jackson 1996

NB 0315 3398 Excavations concentrated on retrieving further information and dating material from rectilinear buildings discovered in 1996 (DES 1996, 111). Small-scale trenches within the northern building located carbonised material from radiocarbon dating, retrieved more diagnostic Norse pottery, and also developed our knowledge of the stratigraphy of the site. It now seems that the structures associated with the 3m thick, wall defending the landward end of the promontory are built in exactly the same way as the wall, with a footing of large angular stones and a superstructure of turf and/or other organic materials. The layout of the excavated walls could not be clearly defined, but the remains may represent either a single building with several rectilinear compartments or at least two separate buildings. The northenmost of these compartments included a stone-lined 'bench' feature against the inner face of the N end gable wall, and the entrance defined in 1996 incorporating a paved stone path to its exterior. Abutting these features were the partial remains of at least one in situ clay floor and associated ash spreads. A complete lack of the rounded pebbles, which represented the final phase of use in the 1996 themselves and thus may relate to the later use of the Norse buildings. Small finds include a large number of hammerstones and pounders.
Sponsors: HS, Russell Trust, University of Edinburgh - Department of Archaeology, Ian Geering - Uig and Hamnaway Estate, University of Edinburgh Development Trust, Abercromby Travel Fund.
M Church, S Gilmour and C Flitcroft 1998, 106

C and M Burgess and Church, 1995, Discovery and Excavation, Scotland, 112 (Bibliographic reference). SWE38881.

Christopher Burgess and Michael Church, 1996, Uig Landscape Survey: Interim Report 1 (Unpublished document). SWE41181.

C, J, S and A Burgess, Dempsey, 1996b, Discovery and Excavation, Scotland, 111 (Bibliographic reference). SWE39108.

Burgess, Christopher & Church, Michael, 1997, Coastal Erosion Assessment, Lewis. A Report for Historic Scotland (Bibliographic reference). SWE41000.

Council for Scottish Archaeology, 1998, Discovery and Excavation in Scotland (Bibliographic reference). SWE41173.