A Monastic Retreat in the Hills of Uig

I was about to give up the search. I'd hiked southwest for nearly an hour from the road at Cairisiadar; first along an old peat track, which had petered out after a half-mile, and then up the slopes of Cleite na Crich, one of the outlying foot-hills of Suaineabhal. I had a grid location for what I was seeking, NB 088320. On reaching it I found myself on a level bit of hillside. A stream ran through it, it had an expansive view to Loch Rog, but there were no ruins in sight. 

I searched high and low, crisscrossing the ground within 100 meters of the grid location. Nothing was to be found, but, before heading back, I dug out the 1:25000 map to take one last look. I knew from experience that on this map series most beehive cells are indicated (though not named) by a small square. The location I had was from a list of the beehive cells of Uig I'd come across a few days earlier at the Uig Historical Society, but there was no structure marked on the map at that location.

In scanning the map, on that windswept hillside, I did see what looked like a tiny square drawn 150 meters farther west. So I headed in that direction, and on rounding a small knoll a smile instantly came to my face.

Can you spot it?

Now you can

The list of cells in the Uig museum indicated that this one may have been monastic. Based, I assume, on the fact that it was isolated, far from any other cells, and not near a shieling site.

The cell was in remarkable state, just the final few courses of its dome having collapsed.

Crawling into the cell I came across the stones that had fallen from the dome. And built into the lower course of the wall were several cupboards for storing food.

After crawling back out of the cell I took one last photo showing the remarkable view the cell-dweller had. I hefted the pack back on and walked down into that view.