Spy Far

NJ71NE 83 796 187

The well-defined remains of rig and furrow lie on a S facing slope to the W of Spy Far cottage and on either side of the track from Admurdo House. The rigs, which are better defined in the E half of the field, are bounded by a stream to the W and S. A tumbled and overgrown drystone dyke, now standing to a height of c. 7 5cm delimits the N extent of the rigs: it does not follow the modern field boundary, which lies further N. The lower courses of this dyke are well-defined on the N face, but the dyke has collapsed almost completely to the W, where it can just be traced for a further 20m beyond the stream which forms the boundary of the rigs.

Among the rigs at the W end is a small clearance cairn of granite boulders, c. 1.5m in diameter. A similar, larger cairn, c. 5m long and 1.5m wide, lies on the E side of the E boundary fence, at the limit of the rigs. Both the track and the cottage presumably postdate the rigs, since the track bisects them.

A J Russell 1981.

Air photographs: AAS/81/1/R1/8-13, flown 8 January 1981 and AAS/88/07/S14/6, flown 3 August 1988.

NMRS, MS/712/67.

An area of rig-and-furrow is visible in unimproved pasture immediately NW of Spyfar farmsteading (NJ71NE 227); a few small cairns can also be seen, but they are probably no more than clearance heaps associated with the rig.

Visited by RCAHMS (JRS) 9 September 1998.