Monument record 181 - SIDEVAL, LOCH SEAFORTH, LEWIS

NB21NE 1 2781 1662.

(NB 280 166) The stone circle lies a short distance W of M'Lellan's croft, on a remnant of a raised beach and about 70ft from the high water mark, on the N shore of Loch Seaforth.
There are seven stones visible, set on the circumference of a circle about 54ft in diameter. Two stones, 4ft 3ins and 5ft 6ins high, are free-standing, one has been broken, and the others have been incorporated in walls.
The keeper, who has been on the place more than 50 years, thinks that there were at least 4 large flat stones lying near the centre. A stone, 4 1/2ins thick, built into a recent wall, may be one of them; there is another inside the sheep-pen.
W Thorneycroft 1936.

A stone circle, as described and planned by Thorneycroft, at NB 2781 1662.
Only three stones (A, B and F on plan) appear to be in situ, but despite the secluded situation of the stones there can be little doubt that this is the remains of a stone circle, possibly encircling a chambered cairn, subsequently destroyed.
Surveyed at 1/10,560.
Visited by OS (N K B) 26 June 1969.

'The monument...comprises of a stone circle of Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age date, situated at the head of Loch Seaforth. It is sometimes referred to as "Fangs". The area to be scheduled is circular, measuring a maximum of 40m in diameter to be centred on the stone circle.'
HS Scheduling Document 17 Februaury 1992.

"Located on the north shore of Loch Seaforth Head, at the foot of the southern slopes of Sideval, the remains of this stone circle, ca 10 metres in diameter have been built into the structure of a crofting phase blackhouse and stack yard (26.12 and 26.13). Surviving as seven stones, only four can be said, with any certainty to be in their original locations. Of the other three, one, in the north wall of the black house (interior face to the east of the sheep dipper) has definitely been moved. Not only is it well outside the radius of the circle but it stands 5 centimetres clear of the ground, resting on other stones in the wall. The remaining two stones, one located at the south end of the house (interior face) and one located at the north-east corner of the stack yard, both fall within the radius of the circle, or close to it, but both have been used as part of the construction of the blackhouse, suggesting they might possibly have been moved. This stone circle has no direct visual link to any of the other elements of the ritual landscape in the general vicinity, however, it is located less than 3000 metres from the stone setting at Cnoc nan Clach (5.1 and 5.2) to the north and less than 1000 metres from at least two of the cairns and standing stones located at the foot of Sideval (5.12) and Beinn Lobheir (5.8)" Could be part of a ritual landscape. "Including the stone circle and setting on Cnoc nan Clach and the standing stone at Sildonis (NB21NE04) this landscape seems to dominate the slopes above the south-western end of the sea loch - Loch Erisort. Other elements might include the spring or well (5.4) located in the valley immediately to the west of Cnoc nan Clach and the chambered cairn located ca 1000 metres to the south of the burn that runs past its west side (5.5)." (Burgess 2004, 56 and 21)

W Thorneycroft, 1935-6, Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 122-4 plan, illusts. (Bibliographic reference). SWE7933.

{H} A {W} Burl, 1976a, The Stone Circles of the British Isles, 358 (Bibliographic reference). SWE2801.

G and M Ponting and Ponting, 1977b, The Standing Stones of Callanish, 31 (Bibliographic reference). SWE13307.

Chris Burgess, Northamptonshire Archaeology, 2004, Archaeological Survey and Evaluation of Eilean Chalium Chille and the Putative Site of the Seaforth Head Castle (Unpublished document). SWE41054.