Croughly

This township, which is spread along the crest of a W-facing ridge overlooking the River Conglas, is situated in a strip of waste ground at the E edge of an improved pasture field. It comprises the remains of at least nine rectangular buildings, all reduced to grass-grown, largely faced rubble footings, some of which are associated with enclosures and midden pits. There is evidence of what may be turf stripping in the immediate proximity of some of these buildings and there are also fragmentary walls and at least two small quarries. Not all the features are likely to have been in contemporary use. There are no traces of an agricultural landscape predating the Improvements in the immediate vicinity of the township.

Three buildings at the S end of the township are clustered around what appears to have been a yard. The building situated on the W (NJ 17633 20545) measures 14m from N to S by 3.5m transversely within walls 0.95 m thick and 0.35m high. A low scarp divides the interior into two unequal compartments, the larger to the N having three entrances, (two on the E and one on the W) and the S compartment two – one roughly centred on the W and another on the S providing access to an outshot with an entrance facing W. A pile of rubble overlies the SE corner of the building, while another pile is situated to its N. The remains of a gateway are situated immediately SE of the building, on the line of the grass-grown foundations of a wall leading E to the SW corner of a second building (NJ 17649 20536), which is situated on the S side of the yard. It measures 8.7m from E to W by 3.15m within walls 0.75m thick and 0.25m high. There are two entrances facing N close to the NE and NW corners respectively. A grass-grown platform at the W end of the building may be the remains of an outshot, while a broad shallow depression to the N of the building may be the result of turf stripping or poaching. A length of wall which extends E from the SE corner of the building before turning sharply S is all that remains of an enclosure. A third building (NJ 17645 20558), situated on the N side of the yard, measures 9m from E to W by 3.3m within walls 0.7m thick and 0.2m high. There are roughly opposed centrally placed entrances facing N and S, and an outshot to the E with an entrance facing S. What may be a small midden hollow is situated 7m S of the building while a low mound immediately to the SE of this may be the remains of a small building.

A grass-grown bank accompanied on the E by a shallow ditch runs from the NE corner of the N building’s outshot for a distance of 15m NW before abruptly ending. There are two small clearance cairns (NJ 17655 20572 and NJ 17642 20567) to its NE and SW respectively, while about 9m NW of the building is a roughly rectangular grass-grown stance (NJ 17633 20567) with a poached area immediately to its W, possibly the site of a cattle trough. A length of grass-grown stony bank to the N is cut by a quarry (NJ 17645 20609) partly filled with field clearance. This measures 10m from NNE to SSW by 4.4m and 0.65m deep. A large boulder at its NE edge displays wedge marks on its W face. A second grass-grown quarry, also partly filled with field clearance, is situated 15.5m to the N (NJ 17647 20637). It measures 13m from N to S by 9.5m and 1.75m deep. The E side of the quarry interrupts a grass-grown bank which is all that remains of a tumbled drystone wall that defined the W side of a rectangular enclosure (NJ 17664 20640) that extends beyond the wall delimiting the E boundary of the improved field. To the N of the quarry is a fragment of trackway.

A cluster of five buildings is situated N of this enclosure. The most southerly of these (NJ 17661 206544) measures 8.9m from NW to SE by 3.8m within walls 0.75m thick and 0.25m high. There is a roughly centred entrance facing NE and an outshot on the NW, which may represent part of an earlier building. A grass-grown depression immediately to the SW of this outshot may be a midden, while a similar depression to its NW may be another. The latter cuts what appears to be a trackway. A second building (NJ 17665 20679), situated about 11m NNW, measures 8.5m from E to W by 3.5m within walls 0.6m in thick and 0.2m high. There is an entrance on the S, while a gateway immediately adjacent to the building’s NW corner provides access to a rectangular enclosure situated to the NNW (NJ 17660 20689). Its W side is formed by a third building (NJ 17669 20689) which measures 9.5m from N to S by 4m within walls 0.6m thick and 0.2m high. However, the W wall has been severely robbed and the E wall (like that of the building to the S) partly underlies the stone wall forming the boundary of the field. A second gateway to the enclosure is situated immediately N of this building. A fourth building (NJ 17637 20678), which lies 15m to the WSW, measures 12.7m from NNW to SSE by 3.7m within walls 0.75m thick and 0.2m high. The interior is subdivided into two compartments and there is a central entrance on the ENE. An outshot on the SSE, oriented from N to S with a broad entrance facing E, possibly formed part of an earlier building. It is also possible that an outshot at the N end of the building represents part of another earlier structure as its S wall partly underlies the building. This outshot has been subdivided into two unequal compartments, the more northerly of which has two opposed entrances in the ENE and WSW walls. The whole building stands on the W side of a rectangular enclosure (NJ 17627 20679), access to which was by a single gateway situated immediately W of the NNW outshot. The fifth building (NJ 17645 20722) in this cluster is situated 20m to the NE and is distinguished by having rounded internal and external corners. It measures 14.6m from N to S by 3.1m within walls 0.8m thick and 0.2m high. The interior contains two compartments with a pair of opposed entrances facing E and W in the N compartment and a single entrance facing E in the S compartment. A partly robbed enclosure situated to the W of the building contains four stack stands.

The remains of what may have been further buildings are situated within the adjacent plantation, but this was ridge-ploughed before planting and for the most part they are reduced to shapeless piles of rubble. However, there is a very poorly preserved L-shaped building (NJ 17690 20669) situated just within the W margin of the plantation.

The 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Banffshire 1872, Sheet XL; OSNB Banffshire 18, 66) shows that the township had been reduced to two cottar’s houses by the 1870s. These were situated to the E of a track dividing the improved fields of the township to the W and the open moorland of Feith Geal to the E. The more southerly, named ‘Knock of Croughly’, comprised the most westerly building within the S cluster, which is shown roofed except for a compartment at its S end. The building stood on the E and N sides of a garden and there was a small roofed building immediately to the E. The map also shows a limekiln (NJ 17606 20493) and the NE corner of the enclosure situated N of the building.

The more northerly holding, named ‘Uchdan’, comprised the most easterly building of the N cluster. This is shown roofed, except for a compartment extending W from the S end of the building: a garden was attached to its W side and, immediately SW of that, there was an unroofed building with a yard or garden attached to its W side.

The 2nd edition of the map (Banffshire 1903, Sheet XL) shows that the present field system had been closed-off with the introduction of a boundary dividing what remained of the original township and its improved fields to the W from the track and the moorland to the E. The N compartment of the Knock of Croughly had been demolished by then, along with the small building to its E. Two small enclosures lay to the S and SE of the principal building – the latter occupying the site of the building on the S side of the yard, attached to which on the N was a narrow enclosure of the same length. In addition, the square enclosure to the S of these buildings had been reconfigured and enlarged. The limekiln and the fragment of the enclosure to its N are no longer shown, while Uchdan is depicted only in outline as it had been completely abandoned and its name is absent from the map.

Visited by HES, Survey and Recording (ATW and GLB), 22 May 2018.