Burn Of Whiteleen, Cottage

ND34SW 292 32857 43369

A farmstead comprising an L-shaped unroofed long building of two compartments, an enclosure and two lengths of wall is depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Caithness 1878, sheet xxix).

One partially roofed building, one unroofed building and an enclosure are shown of the current edition of the OS 1:10000 map (1976).

Information from RCAHMS (AKK), 18 March 1996.

The remains of this farmstead are situated on the edge of moorland at the foot of the NW flank of the Hill of Ulbster, some 175m E of the A99(T) public road. Depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map as an unroofed L-plan range, its open side facing SSW, the farmstead was partly rebuilt in the late 19th century, when a cottage and garden were built over the site of the NNW wing of the range, and a small outbuilding was constructed over the SSE end of the ENE wing.

Most of the ENE range has been reduced to little more than a vague outline, and a roughly rectangular grass- and nettle-grown platform of stones (YARROWWS04 497) midway along its length. This platform measures 7.1m from NNW to SSE by 6m transversely and up to 0.9m in height. The ruins of the later outbuilding (YARROWS04 496), which is probably largely a rebuild of the SSE end of the range, stand 7.8m to the SE of the platform. It measures 3.9m from ENE to WSW by 3.2m transversely within clay-bonded, roughly-coursed rubble walls 0.5m in thickness and 2.7m in height. Traces of an entrance are visible at the W end of its NNW wall, while a small window has been inserted into the rebuilt E gable. The rebuilt upper section of the SSE wall is thinner than the other walls.

Nothing is visible of the NNW wing of the range, which is overlain by the ruined cottage (YARROWS04 495). This measures 10.7m from NNW to SSE by 5.45m transversely over clay-bonded and lime-mortared walls 0.65m in thickness and up to 2m in height. There is a central entrance flanked by two windows in the WSW side, which look onto the adjacent garden, and there is a small, central window on the ENE. Both gables survive to their chimney-stacks, but most of the turf roof has been removed. The interior contains two compartments, each with a fireplace and a cupboard in the gable. The internal walls, which have been rendered with a light wash of cement, retain some vertical battens.

A shallow, grass-grown quarry (ND34SW 325), measuring 45m from N to S by 6m transversely and 0.4m in depth, is situated roughly 40m N of the cottage. Beyond the quarry lies an overgrown enclosure (YARROWS04 493) measuring 11m square within a boulder bank 0.65m in thickness and 0.5m in height.

(YARROWS04 493, 495-497)

Visited by RCAHMS (ATW), 25 August 2004.