<< Our Photo Pages >> House Of The Fairies - Souterrain (Fogou, Earth House) in Scotland in St. Kilda
Submitted by cornishstargazer on Saturday, 14 October 2023 Page Views: 3816
Iron Age and Later PrehistorySite Name: House Of The FairiesCountry: Scotland County: St. Kilda Type: Souterrain (Fogou, Earth House)
Nearest Town: HIrta
Map Ref: NF1001799410
Latitude: 57.813586N Longitude: 8.571319W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Field Visit (22 July 1924)
RCAHMS Inventory: Outer Hebrides, Skye and the Small Isles.
Earth-house, St Kilda.
At the western end of the village of St Kilda the ground rises slightly towards the north, and, at a spot about 100 yards north-west of the township, in close proximity to the present burial ground, an earth-house was accidentally discovered about 1844, and opened and examined in 1876 (1). The internal passage, which measures about 34 feet in length by approximately 4 feet in height and 3 ½ feet broad, is roughly lined with stones of various sizes, apparently unworked. There is one side chamber 6 ft. 2 ins. long and evidence of two others. Here and there undressed roofing slabs of about 8 inches in thickness remain in situ. When disclosed in 1876 the floor was found to be of flat stones with a drain below. It was covered with peat ash and soot in a layer about a foot thick, in which were found bones of animals and sea-fowl, burnt limpet shells, “a large number of rude stone implements resembling hatchets and wedges”, “part of a lamp”, and some fragments of coarse pottery (2). (Figs. 74, 75.)
RCAHMS 1928, visited (by Captain Patrick Grant) 22 July 1924.
(1) See Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., XII., pp. 186-7; cf. also VII., p. 172.
(2) Mr Sands, who had the place opened in 1876, writes: “The men told me that they had often found small vessels of clay in the earth, but had never seen any pottery made, nor heard that it had ever been made in Hirta. Stone lamps are still to be seen above ground, and some old men told me they had often used them when in Berneray and Soa. It is remarkable that all to whom I showed the implements recognised them at a glance…ʻSean lamhog, sean sgian, old axe, old knife’, they said…It is probable that stone implements were used in St Kilda at a very recent date”. (As cited, p. 187.) Mr R. Kearton says the place “had been only partially explored and to a great extent destroyed”. Among other relics he found an iron spear-head (With Nature and a Camera (1897), p.13.
Source: Canmore: canmore.org.uk/site/9697/st-kilda-hirta-village-bay-house-of-the-fairies
Note: Carolyn K was lucky enough to visit St Kilda recently, also sighting this elusive possible stone circle
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