Helensburgh, Hermitage School

NS38SW 122

NS 316 812 A desk-based assessment in January 2005 found that the site, upon which it is proposed to build a school, was part of the Camis Eskan Estate, thought to have been established in the 17th century. The assessment indicated that there was potential for archaeological remains to survive within the development area. The subsequent evaluation, which comprised 32 trenches (equivalent to 5% of the development area), did not encounter any evidence for settlement or cultivation pre-dating the estate. There was no evidence for pre-Improvement cultivation (rig and furrow) or manuring (artefacts). Finds recovered from the topsoil suggest that manuring of the area began in the 18th century.

The excavation also found no evidence that the site was the location of early settlement or medieval cultivation, though it did record features that pre-dated modern ploughing and Improvement period field drainage. The nature of the features, supported by the slight dating evidence, suggests that they relate to drainage and cultivation/planting in connection with the designed landscape within the Camis Eskan Estate in the first half of the 19th century. The nature and extent of the surviving WW2 structures was also established during the works.

Report lodged with WoSAS SMR and NMRS.

Sponsor: ABC Schools for Argyll and Bute Council.

D Atkinson 2005