Sbc Note

Event ID 1087685

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Sbc Note

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1087685

Recent woodland clearance in the Clock Sorrow has revealed the entrance to an ice-house beneath the deer larder. This is exceptionally well-preserved and comprises the 'egg-shaped' ice chamber, a tunnel approximately 5 metres in length and a curvilinear wall along the north bank of the Clock Sorrow serviced by 4 sandstone steps. Further steps or a path may have led to the top of the steep slope some 3 metres above. The masonry of the entrance and tunnel is random coursed rubble greywacke apart from the steps and entrance lintel which are red-sandstone. An iron gate lays against the slope next to the entrance. The interior chamber appears to comprise nicely faced sandstone blocks covering the bottom half, with a random rubble corbel vault for the top half.

The entrance appears to have been sealed in the 19th or 20th century. A sealed glass bottle with metal cap would suggest sometime around the Second World War when the Haining was home to a Polish army unit. Historic OS mapping does not show the ice house or its entrance, with the later 19th century deer larder being the earliest structure.

C Bowles (SBCAS)

Site Visit: 26/8/19