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MHG35870 - Longhouse, farmstead, kiln - Dunrobin Glen

Summary

A farmstead settlement at Dunrobin Glen.

Type and Period (3)

Protected Status

Full Description

NC 796 049 A longhouse and associated remains including a corn-drier were identified during planting operations. The site lies at c 270m OD. The area was excluded from planting.
J Wordsworth 1999

The features identified formed part of a small farming settlement as sketched on Fig. 2. They consisted of:
1. A south facing longhouse 10m long E/W by 3m wide on stone footings with an internal division in the centre. Attached to the Wens were the remains of a byre 10m long tapering to 2m in width. A porch lm long by clm wide was set at the SE end of the byre next to the house. No other entrance to the house was visible. It had not been damaged by ploughing or planting operations.
2. To the S of the building was a large irregular enclosure nearly 20m long by 15m wide maximum. A possible fold 6m by 5m lay in the NW of this enclosure. The interior had been partly disturbed by mounding and planting revealing only a very thin topsoil over a stony subsoil. This was the feature that had been provisionally identified as a roundhouse but it was too irregular in shape and probably too substantial to have ever supported a roof It was also sited on a pronounced slope and is more plausibly interpreted as an enclosure linked to the longhouse, though it is not impossible that it was converted from an earlier structure.
3. To the E of the enclosure and S of the house was a reasonably well-preserved corn-drying kiln with a kiln c2m in diameter, surviving up to lm high. The building measured 5m by 3m and was fed by a flue facing SW.
4. A small heap of stones, 1.5m in diameter, in the space between the N end of the kiln and the house could not be interpreted, but might be the remains of a store.
5. 60m to the NW of the longhouse and enclosure were the remains of a rectangular enclosure 8m by 10m. This had already been marked out with canes and had partly been disturbed during planting operations. This as with enclosure (2) could have been adapted from an earlier roundhouse but its rectangular form and situation suggest it is more likely to be a single period enclosure linked to the sites to the SE.

All these features were set on sloping ground in vegetation of coarse grasses and heather, quite damp in places, especially to the N of the longhouse. Walls (6) & (7) previously recorded on the OS were also identified, as well as an extra section (8) extending E from the longhouse for c45m then turning N for 30m before disappearing into peat and forestry ploughing. It presumably extended N to link with wall (7). A few heaps of clearance cairns, largely masked by vegetation were also identified. The main concentration was to the N of enclosure (5) but their position was not accurately recorded.
To the N and W of the longhouse and N of enclosure (5) on a relatively level terrace, forestry ploughing had revealed an extensive soil that differed significantly from the black humic peats observed elsewhere. This grey loamy sand was interpreted as former cultivated ground used to produce the corn (oats or bere) dried in the kiln by the longhouse. The ground around the S of this field was also grey loamy sand where exposed and may also have been cultivated. However it may only reflect improved fertility or a soil not already degraded to peats. The ground sloped steeply here and it is clear only patches could ever have been cultivated in contrast to the flatter ground to the N. The E side of this field had never been cultivated as it consisted of undisturbed peats.

The remains are consistent with a farm steading still in use at the end of the l8th century before sheep were introduced. They complement the recorded remains of other post-medieval settlement to the SW across the modern road. This was not a temporary summer shieling, being instead a permanent settlement. One of the most significant discoveries was the finding of a corn-drying kiln, demonstrating that the inhabitants were cultivating arable crops at a height of c275mOD (c900 feet OD). The corn dryer would be an important item of equipment for drying crops in poor seasons.
The site is of archaeological interest and should be preserved, but it is not unique and is replicated by others in this glen and the surrounding area. <1>

Sources/Archives (1)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NC 7959 0490 (30m by 30m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NC70SE
Geographical Area	SUTHERLAND
Civil Parish	GOLSPIE

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