Balcarres House, 'tunnel'

NO40SE 5.05 c. 4778 0475

The discovery of a 'tunnel' (possibly a sewer, well or mill lade) is recorded set into the slope of Balcarres Den, about 430m NE of Balcarres House (NO40SE 5.00), beneath a 'visible enclosure in the field above', and only two or three feet (0.6 to 0.9m) above the level of the burn itself.

It was recorded as running into the slope (in an unspecified direction) for a distance of about 20 ft (6.1m) before curving through sixty degrees to the right. Exploration of a further 40 ft (12.2m) was possible before the steeply-shelving floor blocked further progress at a point where the (other) end was apparently visible. A straight stretch of another tunnel joined the first at this point; about 60 ft (18.3m) of this was explored before it was found to be blocked by accumulated sand and gravel where the rock changes from sandstone to alternating sandstone and shale. A 'few feet' before this, a 'rough chamber' measuring at least 10 ft (3.1m) high and between 10 and 15 ft (3.1 - 4.6m) in diameter was noted on the right.

Information from Lord Crawford of Balcarres, 28 June 1996, citing a letter from Mr M Martineau, Oriel College, Oxford to Lady Crawford, dated 21 November 1966.

In the apparent absence of local coal mining or a superimposed building, this structure has most probably been a sewer. The first edition of the Ordnance Survey 6-inch map (Fife, sheet 19, 1855) notes a mill, a kiln and a quarry to the NE of the den.

Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 11 July 1996.