Monument record 12973 - Newton House souterrain, North Uist

On looking down into the holes, the remains of a chamber and souterrain passage can be seen. The main features are visible from the larger hole, to the ENE. The roof of a corbelled chamber has collapsed, allowing a view inside the chamber (photos 23, 24, 25). It is circular and measures approximately 3 x 3 m at ground level, reducing in size as the ceiling is reached. The height of the chamber is c. 1.35 m from floor to ceiling. The depth of topsoil above the highest ceiling lintel is c. 0.9 m A dry-stone pier rises from the ENE side of the chamber to the ENE of the hole, curving slightly towards the roof of the chamber (photos 22 and 26). The roof has collapsed to the WSW of this, and there are possible signs of degraded stone lintels which have broken through, to the edge of the hole adjacent to the top of the pier (27). There is a gap of c. 0.5 m between the ENE side of the pier and the wall of the chamber at floor level. The walls of the chamber are constructed of large rectangular blocks of Lewisian Gneiss, in a dry-stone corbelled technique. The roof is formed from a corbelled spiral of larger slabs. A large amount of soil and turf (volume measuring at least 0.9 x 1 x 1 m) lie on the floor of the chamber directly below the hole. This soil has scattered across the interior of the chamber.

A stone walled passageway leads from this chamber to the WSW (photo 2). This runs slightly uphill, and has long flat lintel stones forming the roof (each measuring about 0.4 m wide), and measures approximately 1 m high by 1 m wide. The floor is composed of degraded Lewisian Gneiss. This runs from the chamber towards the second hole, which has formed from the weight of the tractor breaking one or two roof lintels. The topsoil and turf has mostly blocked the passage. The height from floor to present day ground surface at this point is c. 2 m (0.25 m less than same dimension taken from 1st hole at chamber, suggesting gradual incline of passage towards WSW). Photographs of the WSW section of passageway which is inaccessible, were taken by inserting the camera through a small aperture into the passage (9 and 10). These indicate that the passageway bends slightly (20 degrees?) to the N, and continues for at least another 3 m, but there appears to be further collapse of soil and stones at this point. As the passage continues towards the summit of the large mound/ hill on which Newton House sits, there may be the possibility of further structures in the area.

Both chamber and passageway floor have numerous deposits of animal bone (sheep, lamb, cattle) scattered throughout. There are also animal bones which have been apparently built into the walling at various points around the structure (photos 30-34). Some of these are flush with the stonework (photo 46) , while others stick out at an angle (38, 40 shows a scapula). There are also some winkle shells present.

There are possibly small niches at floor level at various points around the chamber and passageway, although these may be a result of rough dry-stone work.
(Barrowman, 30.8.2006)

Included in geophysical survey carried out in May 2007, which determined that the souterrain is a part of a deeply stratified settlement site.
Moore 2007, 4.2

James Moore, Orkney College Geophysics Unit, 2007, North Uist Souterrains (Unpublished document). SWE41149.

James Moore, Orkney College Geophysics Unit, 2008, North Uist Souterrains: Geophysical Suvey Report (Unpublished document). SWE41186.