Monument record 11469 - ALLT AIRIGH SGRIDHE, LEWIS

NB33NW 40 3400 3738

What may be three roofed shieling-huts are depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Island of Lewis, Ross-shire 1852, sheet 19). One unroofed building which may be a shieling-hut is shown on the current edition of the OS 1:10000 map (1972).
Information from RCAHMS (AKK) 24 September 1997.

An archaeological assessment was undertaken in advance of a potential windfarm development at Beinn Mholach and Arnish Moor. A total of 29 areas (over 100 individual sites) of archaeological remains were identified, most of which relate to post-medieval shieling practice, lazy bed cultivation, peat cutting, and to the 19th and 20th-century use of these upland areas. The proposed windfarm development involves two areas of peat moorland in the centre of Lewis. (GUARD 891).
NB 3402 3737
Allt Airigh Sgridhe
Shieling hut.
Full report lodged with the NMRS.
Sponsor: Dulas Ltd
J Hooper 2001
REPORT DATE: 17/06/2002

B084 NB 34023 37370

Allt Aridh Gridhe, substantial stone-built shieling hut.
On both the OS 1s ed (1849-52) and 2nd ed (1895) maps, a widely space dgrou pf three, roofed shieling huts are depicted on the north side of the Allt Airidh Sgridhe, only th etwo most eaterly of which fall within the survey area. They are not mentioned in the Name Book, unless they have been incorporated into the large group further to the north (B085-096), nor are they visible on any of the aerial photographs. On the modern OS 1:10000 (1972) map, a single unroofed building north of the burn is shown. None are visible on the vertical aerial photographs.
Of the two huts within the survey area, only one was located on the ground. This lies on top of a grassy mound, amidst undulating ground just north of the burn. Oriented north-south, it is an oval, drystone but, with a flattened northern gable. It measures c. 2.75 m long by 1.8m wide and had opposing entrances towards the southern ened of its long walls. The eastern entrance ran out at right angles to the wall, while the western entrance was clearly pitched at an angle, opening out in a south-westerly direction. The walls were 0.75m thick and stood to a height of over 1m in places. In the north gable were three small cupboards, with another thrtee in the west wall. The east wall was more denuded, but there appear to have been cupboards there too. In the centre of the south gable, an upright slab, immediately adjacent to the wall, could have been a fireback.
Hooper 2000, 18-19

Janet Hooper, 2000, Lewis: Project 891 (Bibliographic reference). SWE41076.