EHG5285 - Trial Trenching - Allt Lagain Bhain, Dundreggan, Glenmoriston

A programme of archaeological evaluation and recording was undertaken by Highland Archaeology Services in 2018-19 at the site of an abandoned rural settlement at Allt Lagain Bhain, Dundreggan, Glenmoriston. The project was commissioned and funded by Transport Scotland through BEAR Scotland and undertaken in advance of construction work to replace the existing A887 road bridge, a programme that will require the construction of a temporary road and river crossing for use during the course of the works. Fieldwork followed a preliminary review of documentary evidence and a site walkover and involved the excavation of seven evaluation trenches of varying size in two stages, each of which targeted highly overgrown but extant structures or the location of structures depicted on the OS 1st and 2nd edition maps of 1874 and 1901. Five of the trenches revealed the remains of substantial masonry structures reflecting a series of buildings and associated boundary dykes. The buildings included a longhouse-type dwelling, a smithy and a storehouse or byre. In addition, an earthwork initially thought to reflect the site of a former smithy building was shown to represent a man-made levee built to protect the settlement during flooding of the adjacent burn. Finds recovered during the fieldwork, combined with documentary evidence, indicates that the settlement was probably founded in the first half of the 19th century and occupied until early 20th century. The fieldwork has allowed the identification and detailed characterisation of the principal structures and associated deposits preserved on the site, which are interpreted to represent two separate properties: a roadside croft with an attached garden or yard and a separate smithy property that included a smithy building and the storehouse or byre. <1>