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Beinn Tighe Souterrain

Beinn Tighe, Canna, Argyllshire.

Two entrances to a low rubble built passage.

Two small earth-houses [sic. see correction RCAHMS 1994 below] are situated on the S slope of Beinn Tighe, just below the summit of a grassy knoll facing SE. Others probably remain unexposed nearby; the two that have been opened have been driven into the hillside, one below the other, and 20 ft apart. Each has an entrance c.18" broad, opening into a lintelled space 5 ft broad in one house and 3 ft in the other, in which are further lintelled recesses. [Canmore]

Lethbridge notes 'traces of a house on top of an earth-house' and states that un-ornamented potsherds etc have been found. (Private 6"map annotated by T C Lethbridge, 1953). [RCAHMS, 1928]

At NG 2444 0625 built into the S face of a grassy rise are two crudely built souterrains. The lower one is an irregularly-shaped lintelled chamber measuring 3.0 m N-S by 1.5 m transversely. The other, about 4.0 m higher up the slope, is of similar construction but slightly smaller. There is no trace of 'lintelled recesses' inside as stated by the RCAHMS. There are no traces of a house or of other souterrains in the vicinity, nor is there any local knowledge of potsherds found at the site. Surveyed at 1/10,560. [OS (ISS) 31 May 1972]

The crude construction of these souterrains and the lack of a passage would seem to indicate a later date than IA. [OS (AA) 2 June 1972]

A substantial grass-grown mound may be all that now survives of a structure associated with the souterrain previously recorded on the S flank of this low rise immediately to the SW. The mound, which lies on the crest of the rise on the E side of an old field-wall measures about 15 m in diameter; it has been damaged by rabbit burrowing, and on the date of visit ; three sherds of pottery were recovered from the upcast from a rabbit scrape. The souterrain is aligned from N to S and survives in two sections, modern breaks provide access through the roof. The upper section measures 6 m in length, and the lower 3.8 m. These two sections have previously been interpreted as two separate souterrains, but it is clear from the survey that they belong to the same structure. Internally, the souterrain varies between 0.8 m and 1.3 m in breadth, and appears to narrow as the floor rises northwards towards the mound. Its sides are rock-cut, but in places stretches of stone walling survive, and the stone lintels of the roof are partly supported on at least three pairs of opposing stone piers set against the sides of the passage. On the surface, the course of the souterrain to the N is indicated by a U-shaped hollow in the SW side of the mound, but some of the disturbance around the souterrain is probably the spread of upcast material created when the trench for the passage was originally dug out. [RCAHMS, 1994]

Alternative Names: None recorded.