Sornagan

NM55NE 7.00 centred on 5831 5779

NM55NE 7.01 from 5905 5706 to 5864 5741 Head-dyke

NM55NE 7.02 5927 5754 Rig

Sornagan. Remains of 4 houses (3 buildings in 1832) occupied by 1801, abandoned by 1851.

P Gaskell 1968

A township comprising five unroofed buildings, one enclosure of two compartments and another incomplete enclosure is depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Argyllshire 1875, sheet xxxix). Five unroofed buildings are shown on the current edition of the OS 1:10000 map (1974).

Information from RCAHMS (SAH) 18 May 1998

Six roofless buildings, several walls and at least fifteen unenclosed or partly enclosed fields, comprising Sornagan township, were noted during a pre-afforestation survey of the NE part of the Drimnin Estate.

Five of the buildings, comprising the nucleus of the township, are shown on the current edition of the OS 1:10000 map (1974).

All are rectangular in plan with rounded corners; they range in size from 7m by 4.5m (NMRS MS 1012/1, no.25a) to 9.6m by 5.2m (NMRS MS 1012/1, no.28b). Four of the buildings (NMRS MS 1012/1, nos.25a, 25b, 28a and 28b) have evidence of cruck-slots, with one building (NMRS MS 1012/1, no.28a) having a centrally placed slot in the W end wall. This building may have been a byre-dwelling, as a drain passes through the W end and there is a platform occupies the E end of the building (to the E of the entrance ). Two of the buildings (NMRS MS 1012/1, nos.25a and 26a) have two compartments and one (NMRS MS 1012/1, no.28a) has an outshot. One building (NMRS MS 1012/1, no.27a) overlies the remains of an earlier structure whilst the character of the fabric of another (NMRS MS 1012/1, no.25a) suggests a partial rebuild. There are small enclosures, or kaleyards, attached to three of the buildings (NMRS MS 1012/1, nos.25c, 26b, and 28c with possibly a fourth formed by 27b and c).

There are at least ten unenclosed, or partly enclosed fields, all situated to the W of the burn, associated with the township. Most of the plots described can be identified with the areas depicted on 'A plan of the Estate of Drimnin The property of Sir Charles Gordon 1836' by D Wilson (SRO, RHP 3258).

There are two areas of peat-cutting within the township, at NM 5821 5812 and NM 5848 5772 (NMRS MS 1012/1 nos.13 and 30).

Although an area of cultivated ground at Sornagan is depicted by Roy (1747-55) he does not show any settlement. Langlands map of Argyll (1801) depicts houses on either side of a track running parallel to the coast but below the present road line and in 1836 (Wilson) there were three houses associated with several areas of arable ground roughly corresponding to the areas noted above.

J G Robertson December 1997; NMRS MS 1012/1, nos.1-3, 5-31

W Roy 1747-55; D Wilson; G Langlands 1801