Glenleraig

As part of Historic Assynt’s 2011 Life and Death in Assynt’s Past Project led by AOC Archaeology, a stone walled longhouse (NC 1519 3151) in the large cleared settlement of Glenleraig was fully excavated. Two discoveries were particularly surprising:

The central hearth had two stone-lined air vents, one running from beneath the hearth to one of the outer walls and the other leading from below the hearth to the byre. The pottery discovered close to the walls of the domestic area included several items of fine quality mid-18th-century

Staffordshire creamware.

In order to establish whether these findings were unique to that one house or more representative of pre-clearance houses elsewhere in Assynt, Historic Assynt has subsequently undertaken three small-scale targeted excavations at other longhouses.

In 2013 a longhouse in the much smaller settlement of Cnoc an Each (NC 1082 2113) was selected, and small trenches targeted the hearth area and across the end wall of the domestic area. No clear evidence of air vents similar to those found at Glenleraig was discovered, but a hollow ran from below the hearth stones a short distance NE towards the stone walled byre end of the building and there were signs of similar but less distinct hollows to S and W. The trench across the end of the turf walled domestic area produced no finds at all.

In 2014 a house in a different part of the settlement (NC 1531 3120) was chosen and trenches targeted the same areas as at Cnoc an Each. The hearth trench revealed a short, 0.3m long, partially stone-lined channel leading under the hearth stones from the direction of the byre and a less distinct unlined hollow emerging from below the hearth directly opposite. The trench across the end wall of the domestic area produced a number of pottery and glass fragments and a copper button. The pottery proved to be

both later (late 18th and early 19th century) and of poorer quality than that found in 2011. The number of volunteers at this excavation allowed us to simultaneously excavate in an irregular outshot. A few small fragments of pottery matching that found in the main house were found lying up against

a series of stone alignments laid out on top of the floor of the outshot. At first these were thought to be drain covers, but there proved to be no channels beneath them and so they are more likely to be supports to lift timber or creel furnishings above the damp floor.

In 2015 a further Glenleraig longhouse was selected (NC 1523 3132). It proved to have been significantly modified towards the end of its period of use. The byre and outshot had been abandoned and the domestic area served as a single room dwelling. The hearth area was not investigated, but a trench below the end wall had a series of stone footings for

furniture and fittings similar to those discovered the previous year. The pottery and glass finds proved to be earlier and of better quality than those discovered in 2014 and very similar to those discovered in the initial 2011 excavations.

The overall findings suggest that hearths with some sort of air venting system may well have existed in the majority of Assynt longhouses of the period. That the house at Cnoc an Each had no pottery finds might indicate greater poverty than in Glenleraig or alternatively, greater care taken by the

last residents to clear up broken pots, or a lack of interest in acquiring pottery. That the three randomly chosen Glenleraig longhouses all had pottery suggests that the majority of residents there may well have had pottery by the later years of the 18th century, and that more than one family had sufficient disposable income to acquire some of very fine quality.

Archive: Historic Assynt. Report: Highland HER

Gordon Sleight – Historic Assynt

(Source: DES, Volume 17)