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MHG12158 - Sheep pens and building - Sandwood Farm

Summary

The structures are of drystone construction throughout, and apart from a projecting wall on the west side are contained within a rectangular area approximately 60m by 25m, aligned NNW-SSE.

Type and Period (3)

Protected Status

Full Description

The remains of the early modern farm of Sandwood comprise a longhouse, 23.5m by 4.0m and generally 0.5m high. The large enclosure abutting to the S and W would seem contemporary, but smaller, more upstanding enclosures adjoining in the N and contemporary shepherd's cottage and enclosures to the S. An extensive section of the old, largely earthen, head dyke survives to the W of the longhouse.
Visited by OS 29 June 1980.

The structures are of drystone construction throughout, and apart from a projecting wall on the west side are contained within a rectangular area approximately 60m by 25m, aligned NNW-SSE. The area slopes down slightly to the SSE. (In the further description below, a N-S alignment is assumed when quoting orientations). An integrated arrangement of sheep pens is located at the north end of the area. A shepherd's cottage and outbuildings occupy the central section of the east side, and at their north end are contiguous with the sheep pens. The main features are numbered 1 to 11 on the attached plan (see p.18) . Features 2-5 are the sheep pens, with which the wing wall 11 is also associated. Features 6-10 are the shepherd's cottage and outbuildings.

Feature 6. This is a rectangular building, which at its highest point (in the N wall) stands now to a height of 2.2m. The building is ruinous, but was originally solidly built, with parallel-sided walls (no batter) 0.8m thick. The walls are unworked blocks of sandstone and conglomerate, locally available in abundance. Some coursing can be seen (clearest on the outside of the north wall). Any gaps between blocks are well packed with small stones. The west end of the south wall stands to 1.4m, but elsewhere, apart from the north wall as noted above, the walls now generally stand only to 0.3-1m. There is a large amount of tumble, both inside and outside the building. The doorway was probably at the south end of the east wall. There is no evidence of an entrance from the main enclosure. The possibility of a chimney in the north wall, where the inner face has fallen but the outer face is still standing, is not ruled out. Evidence for a hearth could not be seen, but might be revealed if the tumble were to be removed.

Features 7, 8, 9 and 10. These are outbuildings of Feature 6, compared with which the walls show a slightly lower standard of construction, with generally smaller and less regularly shaped stones, and less packing of interstices. 7 and 10 were probably roofed; and 8 and 9 may have been, though no positive evidence now remains. The north and south walls of 10 still stand to a height of up to 1.4m: they have the appearance of gable ends, but this is probably a fortuitous result of tumble, not indicative of the original construction. All entrances are on the east side, in the case of 7 probably at the NE corner adjacent to Feature 6, and in the case of 10 also at the NE corner, but in the north wall. Feature 9 shows no sign of an entrance, and is inferred to have been a fodder store, consistently with 10 having been a byre.

Features 2, 3, 4, 5 and 11. Features 2, 3, 4 and 5 form an interlinked system of sheep pens, while 11 (together with the short section of the wall of Feature 1 lying between the SW corner of 2 and the junction with 11) is clearly also associated with the pens.
Walls are mainly still in good condition, standing to their full original height of 1.3m except in the cases of the E side of 5, some parts of the S side of 2 and much of 11 (tumbled), and the short cross-wall in 4 which is of added construction and only 0.4m high.
Construction is typical of drystone walls, with a width at the base of 0.8m, and considerable batter to give a top width of 0.2-0.3m.
The main external opening in the sheep pens is at the SW corner of 2, which is the main reception pen. From here the sheep could be taken out through an internal opening at the SE corner and distributed into any of the pens 3, 4 and 5, the entrances of which are adjacent to this point. Feature 4 has an opening to the outside in its east wall, and there is also clear indication of an erstwhile opening to the outside in the E wall of 5 (where it abuts the NE corner of 6) which has subsequently been blocked with built stone.
The junction between 5 and the NW corner of 6 shows the two structures to have been built separately (6 first), but this does not necessarily indicate a significant time lapse, and only reflects the different building standards and styles of the two walls.

A large section of the curved part of the wall in 5 shows signs of rebuilding (from inspection of the jointing pattern): possibly there was at one time an opening between 5 and 1, though this is speculative. The wall 11 is interpreted as a training wall, to assist in driving sheep into 2.

Feature 1. This large enclosure, comprising some two-thirds of the overall enclosed area, is surrounded by a wall now badly tumbled (and possibly robbed of stone for re-use elsewhere). It is not possible to determine the original height, though for stock control it would presumably be 1-1.2m. The base course contains some very large blocks; e.g. the SE cornerstone has a major dimension of about 1m. Ground level inside the enclosure is higher than that outside, particularly at the south (downslope) end, where the difference is some 0.6m, making the apparent lack of wall height as viewed from the inside deceptive.
There is no obvious opening between 1 and any of the other structures or the outside; but see the remarks above regarding the rebuilding of 5.

Comments. No concerted attempt has been made to date the features, but it is likely the cottage (Feature 6) was built around the time of the local clearances, in or a little before the middle of the 19th century. The outbuildings and pens are presumably of the same date. The date of the main enclosure is less obvious, and all or part of it may pre-date the other features. There are many signs of pre-clearance agriculture in the vicinity, including a prominent head dyke of turf construction to the W of the enclosure, to which it approaches as close as about 25m, and also extensive rig.

Additional Note
NMRS 4718 contains a entry for this group of features under the heading `Sandwood: Farmstead' resulting from a visit by the OS in June 1980, as follows. "The remains of the early modern farm of Sandwood comprise a longhouse 23.5m by 4.0m and generally 0.5m high. The large enclosures abutting to the south and west would seem contemporary, but smaller, more upstanding enclosures adjoining in the Nand contemporary shepherd's cottage and enclosures to the south. [Editor's note. This appears to be slightly garbled. Possibly intended to read `...are contemporary with the shepherd's cottage and enclosures to the south.', referring to Sandwood House]. An extensive section of the old, largely earthen, head dyke survives to the west of the longhouse." <1>

NGR adjusted based on 1999-2001 vertical aerial photographs. <2>

Sources/Archives (2)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NC 2194 6430 (54m by 68m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NC26SW
Geographical Area	SUTHERLAND
Civil Parish	EDDRACHILLIS

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