Monument record 421 - SOUTH DELL, LEWIS

NB46SE 9 4744 6170.

At NB 4744 6170 partly exposed by peat diggings on a rise, is a roughly circulr bank of closely packed, rubble stones, c 3.0m wide, and about 10.0m overall diameter. The centre has been cleared by an old excavation but has exposed nothing except a depression in the SE, probably an entrance, which leads to the slight traces of what may be an annexe. This, together with the remains of several nearby field walls exposed at the same depth, 2 -3 feet down in the peat, suggests that this is a homestead, despite the lack of evidence such as wall faces. A local resident has found Iron Age 'B' potsherds at the site but these are since lost.
Visited by OS (N K B) 15 June 1969.

A roughly 'U' shaped circular bank of closely packed rubble measures approximately 10m in width. The centre of the feature is hollow, and the extended limbs form an apparent 'passage-like' feature. The site is partially covered by peat although the northern and western edges have been exposed by peat cutting. Fifteen sherds of coarse ware, including one rim, and four pieces of a thinner coarse ware were recovered from the outcast of a rabbit burrow; this pottery could be dated to between the 3rd to 9th centuries AD (McSween, pers. comm.). Within the surrounding moss are a series of partially buried, irregular boulder dykes, which may be associated with the hut circle. Immeediately to the north/north-west of the site further stone rubble is exposed in a new peat cutting section.
A line of stone, some 0.45 to 0.65m below the current ground surface and at least 1.10m below the original, was located approximately 50m north-west of the homestead. The stone line measured approximately 3m in width, although the angle at which is was cut could not be ascertained. The stone line was generally single coursed, although in places two or three stones were stacked upon each other. The stone lay within peat, approximately 0.5 to 0.6m above the bedrock and may represent a stone trackway leading across the moss.
Ellis 1999

Clare Ellis, AOC Archaeology Group, 1999, Archaeological Assessment of the Scottish Wetlands (Unpublished document). SWE41016.