Easter Gaulrig
Building(S) (Period Unassigned), Enclosure (Period Unassigned), Farmstead (Period Unassigned), Sheep Dip (Period Unassigned), Turf House (Period Unassigned)(Possible)
Site Name Easter Gaulrig
Classification Building(S) (Period Unassigned), Enclosure (Period Unassigned), Farmstead (Period Unassigned), Sheep Dip (Period Unassigned), Turf House (Period Unassigned)(Possible)
Alternative Name(s) Easter Gaulrig, Lower
Canmore ID 107279
Site Number NJ11SE 5
NGR NJ 15921 14492
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/107279
- Council Moray
- Parish Kirkmichael (Moray)
- Former Region Grampian
- Former District Moray
- Former County Banffshire
The remains of three rectangular buildings have been identified in woodland in an east-facing slope near Easter Gaulrig.
These structures may represent the remains of a post-medieval settlement. It was probably abandoned by the early nineteenth century, when farming was transformed throughout Scotland in the wake of the agricultural improvements.
Text prepared by RCAHMS as part of the Accessing Scotland's Past project
NJ11SE 5 1592 1450
The remains of at least three longhouses survive on the W side of a track and under birch woodland on an E-facing slope.
NMRS, MS/7112/11.
Field Visit (20 August 2009 - August 2011)
Measured survey, description and photographs.
Srp Note (15 September 2011)
This farmstead sits at 401m OD in a grassy clearing in birch woodland on a gently sloping terrace above the River Avon. The site is bounded by a small burn on the W and an estate track on the E, which leads to the deserted farmsteads of Easter Gaulrig (NJ11SE 26) to the S, and Ballintomb (NJ11NE 41) to the N. It comprises the low turf covered stone footings of four rectangular buildings, an enclosure and a later concrete sheep dip. The buildings are grouped in a linear fashion, N-S, and all have rounded corners, inside and out. The walls are 0.6m -0.8m thick and stand up to 0.5m high.
Building 1 lies beside the track and measures c10m x c4m. It has a small extension at the S end, but the N end is poorly preserved. Building 2 measures c13m x c4m. An internal wall divides the building into two compartments of unequal size; the larger compartment is to the S. Building 3, the largest building on site and a possible byre dwelling, measures c 17m x c4m. A drainage ditch runs outside the W side of the building and there is an entrance in the E wall; the N end and NE walls are poorly preserved. Building 4 measures c8m x c4m, but may have been longer as the N end of the building is poorly preserved and indistinct.
About 5m S of building 1 is a rectangular enclosure. The N wall of the enclosure is built of large boulders, forming a wall 1m thick and standing up to 0.7m high. The burn forms its W boundary and the E is defined by an indistinct low bank enhanced with occasional large stones. A concrete sheep dip and the footings of an attached holding pen are situated in the S part of the enclosure and seem to form its S boundary. The sheep dip measures 2.8m long x 0.6m wide and is approximately 0.8m deep (though presently in filled with large stones). The walls are 0.12m thick and were presumably cast in situ.
Approximately 100m W of the settlement (not shown on the plan) are the very low footings of a feature tentatively interpreted as a rectangular turf building.
Informations from SRP Strathavon, August 2011
