West Colzium
Farmstead (17th Century), Field System (Post Medieval), Sheepfold (Post Medieval)
Site Name West Colzium
Classification Farmstead (17th Century), Field System (Post Medieval), Sheepfold (Post Medieval)
Canmore ID 48990
Site Number NT05NE 2
NGR NT 0714 5856
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/48990
- Council West Lothian
- Parish Mid Calder
- Former Region Lothian
- Former District West Lothian
- Former County Midlothian
NT05NE 2 0714 5856
(NT 0714 5856). West Colzium (NR)
OS 6" map (1961)
A ruinous farmhouse showing no signs of great antiquity, but said to be late 17th century.
RCAHMS 1929
It is rectangular 6m by 23m of coarse, freestone rubble with dressed quoins and jambs and has been at least two storeys in height. It stands on the south side of a large walled enclosure and on the hill to the south are many old earthen enclosure banks and rig-and-furrow all probably contemporary with the house. The house is now used for lambing. The feu-farm of 'Westger Colzaine' is mentioned in 1540 and the present building was in ruins by 1894.
Visited by OS (JLD) 26 February 1953
Photographed by the RCAHMS in 1980
A farmstead comprising one partially roofed long building annotated Ruin, one roofed building and two enclosures, one of which is subdivided, and a field-system partly marked by pecked lines and annotated Old Fences and a Sheep Ree are depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Edinburghshire 1853-8-64, sheet xvi). One unroofed building, one roofed building, one enclosure and the field-system are shown on the current edition of the OS 1:10560 map (1968).
Information from RCAHMS (SAH) 16 October 2000
Project (September 2011)
A desk-based assessment and field survey were undertaken by CFA Archaeology in September 2011 in advance of a proposed windfarm development at Fauch Hill in West Lothian. A total of 50 sites were visited and recorded.
Information from George Mudie (CFA Archaeology Ltd) January 2012
OASIS ID: cfaarcha1-169088
Field Visit (September 2011)
The NMRS and HER record a ruinous farmhouse showing no signs of great antiquity, but said to be late 17th century (RCAHMS 1929). A later record (Ordnance Survey 1953) states that it is rectangular, 6m by 23m, and built of coarse, freestone rubble with dressed quoins and jambs and has been at least two storeys in height. It stands on the south side of a large walled enclosure and on the hill to the south are many old earthen enclosure banks and rig-and-furrow all probably contemporary with the house. The house is now used for lambing. The feu-farm of 'Westger Colzaine' is mentioned in 1540 and the present building was in ruins by 1894. The site was photographed by the RCAHMS in 1980 and a further RCAHMS record (2000) describes a farmstead comprising one partially roofed long building annotated 'ruin', one roofed building and two enclosures, one of which is subdivided, and a fieldsystem partly marked by pecked lines and annotated 'old fences' and a 'sheep ree' as being depicted on the Ordnance Survey 1st edition map (Edinburghshire; sheet 16 - 1853). One unroofed building, one roofed building, one enclosure and the field-system are shown on the 1968 edition of the OS 1:10,560 map.
West Colzium is depicted on Roy's Military Survey map (1747-55) with an area of cultivated land shown depicted to the north.
Field survey recorded that the former farmstead comprises a complex series of old turf and stone field banks, varying from 2m to 2.5m wide and surviving up 0.3m to 0.4m high, and later drystone walled enclosures and more modern post and wire fences. Traces of former rig and furrow are visible in some of the field defined by the enclosures and are also visible on modern aerial photographs and oblique aerial photographs held by RCAHMS. The remains are generally well-preserved and appear to represent several phases of development and abandonment. The surviving buildings are probably the latest in a sequence of occupation but no definite evidence for earlier buildings was identified by the present survey.
Information from George Mudie (CFA Archaeology Ltd) January 2012
OASIS ID: cfaarcha1-169088
