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Kiel 'tigh An Easbuig'

Corn Drying Kiln (Period Unassigned)(Possible), Dwelling (18th Century), House (Period Unassigned), Outbuilding (Period Unassigned)

Site Name Kiel 'tigh An Easbuig'

Classification Corn Drying Kiln (Period Unassigned)(Possible), Dwelling (18th Century), House (Period Unassigned), Outbuilding (Period Unassigned)

Alternative Name(s) The Bishop's House

Canmore ID 79963

Site Number NM64NE 16

NGR NM 6674 4532

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/79963

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Highland
  • Parish Morvern
  • Former Region Highland
  • Former District Lochaber
  • Former County Argyll

Archaeology Notes

NM64NE 16 667 454

Tigh an Easbuig: The turf-covered footings of this structure, situated in Forestry Commission woodland some 260m W of Keil farmhouse, indicate a rectangular building measuring 11m by 5.8m over 0.9m walls, with an adjacent enclosure measuring 16.8m by 15.5m. The local name means 'the Bishop's House', a term which probably derives from Mr Hector MacLean, minister of Morvern from 1639 to 1679 and bishop of Argyll from 1680 to 1687. A member of the family that occupied the adjacent farm of Knock, he is on record in 1671 as tacksman of Keil.

Visited May 1974.

RCAHMS 1980.

Remains of 3 houses and outlines of others visible on 1966 air photographs (), are in an area now covered by forest. The main clearance took place 1841-51.

P Gaskell 1968.

Activities

Field Visit (May 1974)

Tigh an Easbuig, Keil. NM 667 454

The turf-covered footings of this structure, situated in Forestry Commission woodland some 260m W of Keil farmhouse, indicate a rectangular building measuring 11m by 5.8m over 0.9m walls, with an adjacent enclosure measuring 16.8m by 15.5m. The enclosure wall formerly contained many sycamore trees, of which only one remained standing at the date of visit.

The local name means 'the Bishop's House'(information from Mr I Thornber, Ardtornish), a term which probably derives from Mr Hector MacLean, minister of Morvern from 1639 to 1679 and bishop of Argyll from 1680 to 1687 (Scott, Fasti, iv, 116; vii, 333-4). A member of the family that occupied the adjacent farm of Knock, he is on record in 1671 as tacksman of Keil (Highland Papers, i , 287). In the middle of the 19th century the parish minister commented on the trees planted by his Episcopalian predecessor to adorn his residence (NSS, vii (Argyll), 177. Cf. MacLeod, N, Reminiscences of a Highland Parish (1867), 422-3).

RCAHMS 1980, visited May 1974.

Project (15 February 2015 - 25 February 2015)

NM 6676 4536 A programme of archaeological work was undertaken, 15–25 February 2015, at the Bishop’s House, Lochaline, following woodland clearance. The work consisted of survey (topographic and combined magnetometry, resistivity and electrical resistance tomography), and the hand excavation of a series of evaluation trenches. It was intended that the position of the trenches would be decided on the basis of the survey results. The results of the work will be used to inform future mitigation and management of the site.

The first map of the area, which dates to the mid-18th century, shows the area as open cultivated ground with no structures. An estate plan from towards the end of the 18th century (George Langlands, 1788) indicates the presence of a number of buildings, with three associated (possible) enclosures. The subsequent estate plan (George Langlands, 1815) shows a similar number of structures but no enclosures. By the time of the 1st Edition OS map (1862–8) a farmstead comprising two unroofed buildings, one of which has two compartments, and a short length of wall is shown. This is not shown on the current OS map.

The survey work was only partially successful and produced limited results to help with the siting of the evaluation trenches. The topographic survey was restricted by dense vegetation which made it difficult to identify the remains of buildings and enclosures. The dense ground cover, as well as the bedrock (which was magnetic), also limited the success of the geophysical survey. The depth and nature of the dense surface vegetation also made resistivity, magnetometry and ERT all problematic as the probes could not reach the ground, and the ground surface was unsafe for continuous walking to record the

traverses.

Given the limited results of the survey, the structures that were evaluated were determined more by what was visible to the naked eye through the brash, rather than the findings of the survey. A total of four structures were evaluated: a former house (Structure 1); an outbuilding/ barn used for storage (Structure 2); a possible corn kiln/ barn (Structure 3) and a probable earlier (late 18th century) dwelling (Structure 4). The findings demonstrated that with the exception of Structure 4, which had a cobbled floor (in the S end), use appears to have been made of the fact that the natural subsoil is fairly compact and bedrock is close to the surface. The finds that were recovered, mainly found in Structure 1, all appeared to date to the late 18th/19th centuries and the floor deposits were fairly shallow and clean.

Archive: National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE)

Report: Forestry Commission Scotland

Funder: Forestry Commission Scotland

Rebecca Shaw, Ben Edwards and Ros Francis – Rebecca Shaw

Archaeological Services and Archaeological Survey and Consulting

(Source: DES, Volume 16)

Ground Penetrating Radar (15 February 2015 - 25 February 2015)

NM 6676 4536 Ground penetrating radar survey.

Archive: National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE)

Report: Forestry Commission Scotland

Funder: Forestry Commission Scotland

Rebecca Shaw, Ben Edwards and Ros Francis – Rebecca Shaw

Archaeological Services and Archaeological Survey and Consulting

(Source: DES, Volume 16)

Resistivity (15 February 2015 - 25 February 2015)

NM 6676 4536 Resistivity survey.

Archive: National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE)

Report: Forestry Commission Scotland

Funder: Forestry Commission Scotland

Rebecca Shaw, Ben Edwards and Ros Francis – Rebecca Shaw

Archaeological Services and Archaeological Survey and Consulting

(Source: DES, Volume 16)

Magnetometry (15 February 2015 - 25 February 2015)

NM 6676 4536 Magnetometry survey.

Archive: National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE)

Report: Forestry Commission Scotland

Funder: Forestry Commission Scotland

Rebecca Shaw, Ben Edwards and Ros Francis – Rebecca Shaw

Archaeological Services and Archaeological Survey and Consulting

(Source: DES, Volume 16)

Note

A farmstead comprising two unroofed buildings, one of which has two compartments, and a short length of wall are depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Argyllshire, Island of Mull 1880, sheet lxx), but it is not shown on the current edition of the OS 1:10000 map (1974).

Information from RCAHMS (SAH) 27 October 1999

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