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Birsay, Jubidale
Farmstead (Period Unassigned), Kiln Barn (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Birsay, Jubidale
Classification Farmstead (Period Unassigned), Kiln Barn (Period Unassigned)
Alternative Name(s) Jubadee
Canmore ID 1787
Site Number HY22NE 32
NGR HY 26621 28018
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/1787
- Council Orkney Islands
- Parish Birsay And Harray
- Former Region Orkney Islands Area
- Former District Orkney
- Former County Orkney
Publication Account (1986)
This is a partly roofless but well-preserved example of a small traditional farm kiln and barn once used for drying oats and bere. It is contiguous with a byre but otherwise stands detached, running parallel with the main farmstead, now ruinous, from which it is divided by a narrow paved close or alley-way. The buildings as a whole are aligned with the gradual fall of the land to the N. Built of random rubble, for the most part composed of slender, knapped stones roughly laid to courses, the barn was evidently roofed with turf thatch laid on a groundwork of thin flagstones supported on timber couples and purlins; a double oversailing course of flagstones protects the wall-head. Externally, the principal feature is the conical kiln situated at the S end; it tapers upwards to a turf-built chimney, and its lower part merges with the main roof and walls of the barn. The doorway into the barn, in conjunction with an opening, or winnowing-hole, in the opposite side-wall, was used to create a strong draught of air for removing the chaff during the threshing process. A small flagstone (c) in the E wall, known as a gloy-stone or shacking-stone, is evidence of a more specialised method of threshing adopted when the straw was to be kept in unbroken lengths for thatching and other selected work.
Steps and a doorway in the centre of the S gable-wall gave access to the drying-floor of the kiln. The latter was evidently supported on a single beam (kiln-Iaece), upon which cross-spars were laid and surfaced with a bed of straw for containing the grain. The outer ends of the spars rested on a 4 in-wide (102mm) ledge or scarcement, situated about 6in (152mm) below the door threshold. At this point the kiln-bowl has a maximum internal diameter of 6 ft 6 in (1.98m) beneath which the sides curve inwards to a basal dimension of about 3 ft (0.91m), roughly level with the barn floor; above the drying-floor the kiln walls are gathered inwards to join the chimney at the top. A 1 ft-square (0.30m) opening at the base of the kiln gave access to the horizontal flue, or draught-hole, leading back through the wall-thickness to the ingle fire (g), contained within a square mural recess on the E side at ground level. Directly above is a long, bulbous chamber for storing peat, topped by a smaller recess. These features are partly closed off by an upright partition and a roof of flagstones, which formed a shelter, or neuk, for the fire and also incorporated a stone seat,tucked in the corner for the person watching the fire. On the far side of the kiln, the dried grain could be discharged through a chute, or shoe, for storage in the large mural chamber in the W wall, formed partly as an outshot.
Known examples of a similar regional type have been recorded in Caithness, for instance, at Achalipster (ND 242491) and Bruan (ND 310397).
Information from ‘Monuments of Industry: An Illustrated Historical Record’, (1986).
