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MHG62155 - Farmstead, byre and enclosure - Coulnabottach, Urchany

Summary

Ruined farmstead, probable byre and enclosure, Coulnabottach, Urchany

Type and Period (3)

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Full Description

The North of Scotland Archaeological Society (NoSAS) undertook an archaeological survey of Urchany in 2015. A settlement called Coulnabottach on an estate map in 1757 and Coul na Bodach on an estate map in 1798 is a consistent feature on all the estate maps and subsequent OS maps of Urchany.

Site B104; A row of two adjoined dwellings with probable byre. A row of south-facing buildings sit towards the top of the green fields enclosed by the head-dyke. The walls are 0.8m thick, standing up to 0.7m high. There are three openings in the south-facing wall, leading to three enclosed rooms. The western room is 9.5m EW x 4m NS, the middle room is 12m x 4m, the eastern room is 6m x 4m. The eastern room has an internal division on the north wall, which does not seem to have come more than halfway across the width of the room. There is considerable tumble inside the buildings, particularly at the eastern end. There is no evidence of chimneys or crucks. It seems reasonable to assume that the eastern building could have been a byre or store. Of the other two buildings, each could have been a house and/or a byre. There is nothing now to indicate their function. Newspaper advertisements in 1821 & 1822 (see p7) indicate that Urchany, or at least part of it, was a sheep farm by this time. The buildings described here appear to be the most recently lived-in at Urchany, and so could well have housed shepherds. In the 1841 census the residents of Urchany were farm labourers and an agricultural labourer. In the 1851 census, the sole family consisted of a shepherd and his servant. <1>

NGR adjusted based on 2009 aerial photographs. <2>

1st Edition OS 6" <3>

Sources/Archives (3)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NH 4478 4576 (53m by 45m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NH44NW
Civil Parish	KILMORACK
Geographical Area	INVERNESS

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