Pitcarmick Loch

NO05NE 22 0508 5673.

Situated at NO 0508 5673 are the well-preserved footings of a "long-house" with rounded gables and slightly bowed walls, measuring 30.0m WNW-ESE by 7.2m at the W end, tapering to 6.0m at the E end (overall measurements) and divided into three main compartments. The wall (1.3m thick) of peat with no apparent stone content or inner face, has a well-preserved outer face of contiguous upright slabs on edge. The entrance, a third of the way along the S side from the W, leads into a passage or hall between two of the compartments. A field wall runs off from the NE corner.

Surveyed at 1:10,000.

Four more, similar but slightly smaller and less well preserved, "long-houses" are situated at NO 0531 5659, NO 0554 5669, NO 0555 5691, and NO 0570 5663.

These "long-houses" are common in this part of E Perthshire and are undoubtedly contemporary with much of the rig and furrow cultivation in the area. This latter, like the houses, is usually extremely weathered and it is possible that the houses are at least late medieval if not earlier.

Visited by OS (ISS) 21 November 1973

The remains of eight long buildings survive on unimproved terraces to the N and NE of Pitcarmick Loch.

1. NO 0507 5674 Situated on the S edge of a terrace overlooking the W end of Pitcarmick Loch, there are the remains of an irregularly-shaped building measuring 30m in overall length from WNW to ESE. At the rounded W end it measures up to 7.8m in overall width and at the less-rounded E end only 6m. The wall comprises an almost continuous outer face of slabs set on edge, backed by a peat-covered bank (1.3m thick and 0.3m high). The line of the wall has been disturbed on the S side and many of the slabs are missing or displaced, but there is an original gap (1.7m wide) on the N side. A short length of stony bank joins the NE corner of the building and runs down slope to the ESE before petering out at the edge of wet ground. Situated behind the building (to the NNE) there are strip-fields defined by low stony banks set no more than 10m apart. The remains, however, are poorly-preserved and difficult to separate from other elements of the field-system which surrounds the building.

2. NO 0518 5666 The remains of this building lie on a gentle S-facing slope on the N side of Pitcarmick Loch; it is in thick heather and detailed recording was impossible on the date of visit. Overall, it measures 18.6m WNW-ESE by up to 10.3m in width at the W end, reducing to 7.1m in width at the E end. On the N side the building is defined by a distinct scarp whilst on the S there is a boulder bank; both ends were poorly-defined and the entrance was not located.

3. NO 0531 5658 Situated on a gentle S-facing slope in heather-covered moorland overlooking the E end of Pitcarmick Loch, there are the remains of a building measuring 23.3m in overall length WNW-ESE by 6.9m in width at the W end and 5.9m at the E end. The wall has been reduced to a rubble bank (1.7m thick and 0.4m high) and the entrance is situated midway along the S side. The E half of the interior is slightly sunken and a drainage hood on the N side stretches from the E end to the bank of an enclosure attached to the NW corner. This enclosure is incomplete but measures at least 7m from N to S by 6.7m within a low bank 1m thick and 0.2m high.

4. NO 0535 5670 This building sits on the S edge of a S-facing terrace about 260m N of E end of Pitcarmick Loch and about 110m NNE of (3). It measures 18.8m in length by 6.6m in width at the W end and 5.4m at the E end over walls reduced to a turf-covered peaty bank (up to 1.7m thick and 0.1m high). The E half of the interior is slightly lower than the W half and whilst the position of the entrance cannot certainly be identified there are two opposed breaks at the mid-point of the building.

5. NO 0546 5688 This building is situated on the break of slope at the rear of a high terrace to the SE of Pitcarmick Loch and has been slightly levelled into the S-facing slope. It measures 19.3m in length by 7.7m in width at the W end and 5.6m at the E end over a wall which has largely been reduced to a bank up to 2m in thickness and 0.4m in height. Several outer facing-stones are visible along the outer edge of the bank and there is an entrance at the mid-point of the S side. The N wall is markedly less stony than the other walls and all but 7m of the W end of the interior is sunken. At the E end of the structure there is a round-ended outshot or extension which measures 4.6m E-W by 5.4m over a stony bank; it has an entrance on the S side. Situated immediately N of the main compartment there is a drainage-hood which joins on to the NW side of the building. From the S side of the building a rubble bank runs down-hill to pass over the W side of the hut-circle (NO05NE 21.13).

6. NO 0547 5684 Situated some 26.5m SSE of (5) there are the remains of a less-substantial building measuring 18.5m in length by 7.5m in width at the W end and 5.5m at the E end over a wall reduced to a turf-covered bank (up to 1.5m thick and 0.3m high). The E half of the interior is slightly sunken and the entrance is situated midway along the S side.

7. NO 0554 5669 A complex sequence of structures is situated on a poorly-drained terrace some 340m NE of Pitcarmick Loch. What is probably the earliest, on the NW, is a subrectangular building which measures 14.7m E-W by a maximum of 7.4m at its mid-point over walls reduced to turf-covered banks 1m thick and 0.2m high. The entrance is on the S and the SE corner is partially overlain by the enclosure bank attached to the second building. The latter lies a few metres to the SE and measures 20m in length by 7.7m in width at the W end and 5.2m at the E end over walls reduced to stony banks up to 1.8m thick and 0.2m high. The E half of the interior is sunken and the entrance is on the S. At the W end of the building there is a small enclosure the bank of which overlies the front building; it loops from the NW to the W side of the entrance. This enclosure is overlain by the W side of a small annexe or enclosure, measuring 5.5m E-W by 4.7m within a stony bank 1.5m in thickness and 0.2m in height, which is attached to the S wall of the building. Situated a little to the S of the buildings there is a possible enclosure.

8. NO 0570 5664 Situated 410m NE of Pitcarmick Loch there are the slight remains of a building which sits on a narrow S-facing terrace.

It measures 18.2m in length by about 8m in width at the W end and 6.7m at the E end over a wall reduced to a bank up to 2.4m in thickness and 0.1m in height. The E half of the interior is sunken and the entrance is not visible; immediately to the E there is a short length of bank which stops just short of the building. This bank is one of a number which run along the terrace, and there is also one hut-circle some 30m to the N (NO05NE 21.19) and numerous small cairns.

Visited by RCAHMS (JRS) 28 July 1987.

RCAHMS 1990

RCAHMS surveyed the Pitcarmick-type building (3) at Pitcarmick (West) (NO 0531 5658) on 27 October 1987 with self-reducing alidade and plane-table at a scale of 1:250. The plan was redrawn in ink and published at a scale of 1:500 (RCAHMS 1990, Fig. 302.4).

RCAHMS surveyed the Pitcarmick-type building (7) at Pitcarmick (West) (NO 0554 5669) on 27 October 1987 with self-reducing alidade and plane-table at a scale of 1:250. The plan was redrawn in ink and published at a scale of 1:500 (RCAHMS 1990, Fig. 302.6).

RCAHMS surveyed the Pitcarmick-type building at Pitcarmick (West) (NO 0507 5674) on 9 September 1987 with self-reducing alidade and plane-table at a scale of 1:250. The plan was redrawn in ink and published at a scale of 1:500 (RCAHMS 1990, Fig. 302.2).

RCAHMS surveyed the Pitcarmick-type buildings and hut circle at Pitcarmick (West) (NO 0546 5688) on 10 September 1987 with self-reducing alidade and plane-table at a scale of 1:500. The plan was redrawn in ink and published at a scale of 1:1000 (RCAHMS 1990, Fig. 302.1).