Fardenreoch

NS51SE 35 56285 13986

Three roofed buildings round a courtyard, an attached enclosure and a pond are depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Ayrshire 1860, sheet xli). The three buildings and two additional buildings with an attached enclosure are shown on the OS 1:10000 map (1988), but the pond is no longer depicted.

The Object Name Book descibes the farmsteading as 'A farm house and office occupied by John Steel, the property of the Marquis of Bute' (Name Book 1857).

Information from RCAHMS (LC), November 2004

NS 565 138 (centre) A desk-based assessment, building recording survey and evaluation were carried out between July 2002 and July 2003 of five farmsteads threatened by mining operations. Four upstanding farmsteads were surveyed prior to demolition, the fifth had already been levelled so no further work was required at this site. Trial trenching evaluations comprised 5% of each farmstead.

Fardenreoch farmhouse is presumed to date to the 18th century. The building developed from a single-storey dwelling to a more substantial two-storey building, and buildings were added to form a typical home farm of early 19th-century date, with buildings arranged around a central courtyard. No deposits of archaeological significance survived below the present farm.

Report lodged with WoSAS SMR and the NMRS.

Sponsor: Kier Mining.

M Cressey, M Johnson and M Kirby 2003