Medieval farmstead. The three structures on the site confused early antiquaries, who suggested the circle and alignments of stones forming an avenue might be elements of a prehistoric temple. Excavations in the 1930s were inconclusive: the site had been disturbed by an overflowing spring, which may have carried away datable artefacts.


The two rectilinear structures appear to be massive examples - one is 20m long, the other 18m - of the rectangular houses built throughout the Viking world around 1,000 years ago, though both are longer and wider than any other structure of this period so far found on the Island.


The upper of the two is the larger, with bowed walls 20m long and 2.1m thick. The maximum internal width is 8.9m. The walls are of earth and stone and survive to 0.8m in height; massive boulders occur at intervals. No trace of gable walls survives above ground but excavation suggests these may have been constructed in timber and turf. The remains of three much smaller structures survive in the interior which are thought to represent the ruins of shepherds' huts or shielings, built after the larger building was abandoned and perhaps ruinous.


It seems likely that this farmstead, which is built on marginal farmland, proved not to be viable and was abandoned in favour of use during the medieval period as a seasonal settlement from which livestock was tended on nearby common land during the summer. If so, the site, uniquely for the Island, brings together buildings of Iron Age and Viking styles that were used together and survive down to the present.