Archaeology Notes

Event ID 684412

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/684412

NO19SW 8 120 903

See also NO19SW 2 which comprises Smith's site 2 and is described by

him as sections (e) and (f) of site 1.

Old Track, base for former bridge at stream side, stone head-dyke and lime kiln. Stone platform adjacent to track with signs of former turf stripping. A collection of stone foundations, namely:

a) Adjacent stream, rectangular stone base, 11m by 5m, with axis normal to the stream: a possible mill.

b) Longhouse, 17m long (1.3m wall), entrance to north with the eastern foundation partly overlying a less well-preserved structure 7m long, both buildings being scarped into the slope, axes normal to stream.

c) Longhouse, 12 by 5m, two entrances to the east, one to the west, set parallel to stream. Walls 0.6m thick. There is a possible kiln structure tacked on to the lower end.

d) Longhouse with associated enclosure to the south, fronted by a very carefully built stone-faced platform measuring 15.2m by 5.5m, with walls 1m thick. The longhouse is set into the slope with a depression upslope designed to lead seepage water from upslope around the back of the building. North-facing entrance aligned with steps up wall facing platform. There is a stone enclosure upslope, also a terraced effect with garden plots set into the slope. A single stone clearance heap occurs just above the enclosure. To the west, below a rock outcrop, set amongst mature rowan birch and built against a single conifer, is a semi-circular dower chair in stone 4m in diameter, set into the slope, with an inscribed stone reading 'Fr Chas Farquharson's Seat 1785'. A footpath runs west up the bluff to Site 2 (NO19SW 2).

J S Smith 1987.