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 lower of the two is only slightly smaller, 18m long and 6m wide, with walls 1.8m thick and 0.7m high. The internal arrangement of stone slabs suggests that the structure may at one time have served as a stalled byre. Unlike its neighbour, its long walls are straight, and there survives evidence for opposed doorways towards the east end, now partially blocked. These appear too narrow for use by animals, and may imply that the stalls represent the building's conversion for use by animals.


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.