Ardross

NO50SW 12 5037 0095.

(NO 5037 0094) Souterrain (NR)

OS 1:10000 map (1973)

This souterrain was found on the 27th March 1878; it had been opened before as the date 1200 is carved on one of the stones in modern characters. It was re-opened in 1906, but there was no sight of it when the site was visited in 1925. However, it was found again in 1939 and today a fence surrounds the site. The souterrain can be entered through a heavy iron cover set in the roof of the passage near the original entrance.

The main features of the souterrain may be seen on the plan. Chalmers's (1906) description runs: "The floor of the passage is reached by a stair of ten well-constructed steps leading downwards. The floor is of compact sand. The walls are constructed without mortar, of small undressed fragments of local sandstone, roofed over with slabs of the same material. The passage is c.2'6" wide and c.4' high; its total length is c.60'. The chamber at the W end is 12'8" long, 7'2" broad, and 5'9" high. The level of the floor is three steps lower than the level of the passage."

A carefully tooled stone was discovered in the E wall of the passage near the ceiling, c.8' from the N angle before the passage turns W to the chamber. It is 6" square, marked by thin concentric lines, with a circular hollow in the centre, 3" in diameter and 1 1/4" deep.

A broken and irregular block of whinstone was found detached in the debris at the entrance staircase. (From the description, it could be the upper part of a large quern).

F T Wainwright 1963; C Howie 1878; J M Corrie MS notebook 1925; RCAHMS 1933

The souterrain is as planned, and entered through an iron hatch in an uncultivated area of the field. The "tooled stone" is as described, and not of the cup and ring mark class. The whereabouts of the whinstone block were not ascertained.

Revised at 25".

Visited by OS (DWR) 29 May 1974