Surveyed May 10, 1995

NGR: NM 1560 5300

Breachacha crannog, previously noted by RCAHMS (1980 no. 237), is located 1 km S of Breachacha Castle on the E side of a modern drainage ditch. Marshy ground surrounds the site which can now only be accessed from a slight elevation to the E. The site is an oval shaped mound of earth from which large and medium sized stone protrudes. This mound measures 21m by 25.5m at its base and is crowned by a fairly level platform which measures 13.5m by 18m. This platform stands 1m above the surrounding loch bed and corresponds with the former maximum water level of the ancient loch. Levels taken across the site, surrounding loch bed and shore showed that if this upper platform was dry, the original shoreline would have been 30m distant.

The most striking feature of the site is a series of five separate semicircular pits which have been dug into the E, S and SW sides of the structure. This disturbance is presumed to date to a period after the site’s discovery in 1875 and presumably after Beveridge’s note in 1903, as he does not mention either excavation or these disturbances. The diameters of the intrusions range between 1.3 m to 4.8 m with the largest in the NE quadrant. Each of the pits has vertical sides 0.7 m in height and three of the five penetrate into the structure to a depth of 1.5 m. The largest of the intrusions occurs in the S quadrant and is hourglass-shaped, measuring 6.5 m along its greater axis. The large intrusion noted on the NE side was shallower, penetrating the mound only 0.3m.

Except for this disturbance, the rest of the site is fairly nondescript. No trace of a causeway, jetty or harbour was located. No distinctive walling or protruding timbers were found. The visible stone which composes the mound is local in origin, has not been shaped, and varies in size between medium and large boulders. No other man made features were noted on or near the site.

An area of disturbance at the south end of Breacha Crannog.