Mull, Kilpatrick Farm, Farmstead, Croft 1

The area was systematically walked on several occasions. Each feature found was recorded & a GPS reading and photograph taken. A limited clearance of some features was carried out to enable measurement.

Croft 1 is the most westerly of the four crofts of Kilpatrick Farm and is around 57 acres (23 hectares) in area. It is roughly rectangular in shape with an average width of 220 metres and length of 910 metres, with the long axis oriented roughly SSE to NNW. It is bounded by the sea to the N, and the head dyke to the S. The A849 cuts through the northern end of the croft in an E-W direction.

The northern section of land between the sea to the N, and the A849 to the S, has evidence of most of the oldest phases of habitation as well as some of the most modern.

The land to the S of the A849 road rises up southwards in a series of wide, flattish lava terraces linked by short, steep slopes, to the head dyke, which is around 145 metres AOD. The flat areas show signs of cultivation rigs and grazing land, as well as undrained boggy areas with some sections of former peat cutting.

This series of buildings and structures lies on one of the lava terraces between two steep, craggy slopes to the S of the A849, and on the terrace above Kilpatrick Croft buildings and the Farmstead near Allt Loch Arm.

BUILDING - possible black house NM 41484 23088

The footings and lower courses of dry-stone walls of a long building with overall

dimensions of 13.1 metres long by 4.9 metres wide are set on a level platform cut into a shallow hill slope with the long axis running roughly SE to NW. Narrow ledges of level ground occur outside the long walls of the building, that are 0.9m wide to the front and 1.5m wide to the rear.

The building walls appear to be based around one very large rock at the SE corner, and the structure is divided into two main sections of roughly equal length. The SE section of the interior appears to comprise the former dwelling, with an entrance central to the N wall.

The NW section appears to have opposite entrances in the western ends of both N and S walls. Internally there are large quantities of fallen stones, but there may have been at least one dry-stone division wall. The external walls appear to abut where the two building sections meet, showing that the SE section may have been added at a later date.

The remains of a small, semi-elliptical structure occur attached to the NW end of the building. It has an internal diameter varying between 1.2m and 1.6m and may have been a small animal enclosure, such as a lamb pen.

The ground in front of the building is now boggy and slopes away to the small burn. A

large rock with a flat upper surface stands a short distance to the NE.

To the south of the building, a sunken trackway heads S up the slope, and a narrow revetted path, which is set into the hill slope, leads away eastwards toward the grain-drying kiln.

CORN-DRYING KILN NM 41628 23115

Well-preserved remains of a corn-drying kiln are set into a NNW-facing hill slope to take advantage of the prevailing wind from the sea. This kiln is around 4.2m overall diameter, and 1.8m diameter at the top of the bowl. The front wall, which has a maximum height of around 1.5m, bowl and platform are of dry-stone construction. The flue in the front wall appears to have collapsed onto the fireplace in front of the kiln, but the structure is otherwise in excellent condition. A partial clearance of vegetation and soil from the inside of the structure was carried out in 2009. The bottom levels of soil within the bowl were retained (to enable possible future analysis), but a few small pieces of charcoal were found on the platform, which have been preserved.

There is a large area of former peat cutting on the flat land immediately to the N.

STRUCTURE NM 41575 23094

Low remains of dry-stone footings/walls form a small sub-rectangular enclosure of around 3.5m by 3m, adjacent to a small burn and just to the W of the kiln. Because of its location and size, one possible interpretation of the function of the structure could be as the base of a still.

GROUP OF STONES NM 41654 23069

A group of large stones, including one that may be a recumbent standing stone, lie

just to the S of the remains of a low east-west bank (NM 41671 23063) It is close to the main boundary dyke with Croft 2.

STRUCTURE NM 41386 23099

These stone wall remains in an ‘L’-shape,of around 14m x 4m, lie on the eastern bank of the burn, Allt Loch Arm. The walls include some large boulders. From the size, shape and location, the walls could be the remains of parts of two walls of a rectangular structure over the burn that could have been a horizontal water mill. The partial remains of a stone wall/bank on the upstream, eastern bank could be part of the associated water channelling structure

GROUP OF STONES NM 41564 23167

A small group of large stones stand on a promontory platform. There is no indication of what structure the stones may have been part of.

A study was carried out of all known historical documents, maps and aerial photographs relating to the site. Interviews were also held with site owners and other local people with knowledge of the history of the area.