Scheduled Monument: Crannog, Loch Bhorghastail (SM13819)

The monument comprises the remains of a crannog, an artificial island, which archaeological excavation has shown dates to the early Neolithic (3640-3360 BC) and Middle Bronze Age (1600-1200 BC) with evidence for Iron Age (800BC-AD400) re-use. It survives as a partially submerged timber and stone built island measuring about 23m in diameter. The monument lies within Loch Bhorghastail, at about 50m above sea level. A submerged causeway, measuring about 35m in length, extends from the northwest of the island, connecting it to the shore. The crannog is annotated as a cairn on Ordnance Survey mapping. The crannog survives as a stone-built islet with submerged timber elements. The earliest phase is a broadly circular timber platform, now submerged, measuring about 23m in diameter. It is formed of willow and birch logs laid directly onto the loch bed silts with large stones placed on top of the timbers, probably to weight them down. There is a probable revetment on the eastern, deeper water, side of the crannog. A brushwood layer was added to the western side of the islet during the Middle Bronze Age and the stones moved to create the stone islet visible today. The causeway extends to the shore and is probably contemporary with the earliest phases of this site. Later re-use is demonstrated in the form of a pit and area of burning dating to the Iron Age. The scheduled area is irregular. It includes the remains described above and an area around within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The above ground elements of the post and wire fence at the western end of the causeway is excluded to allow for its maintenance.