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MHG61226 - Farmstead - Achkeepster

Summary

Footings of a former farmstead and enclosure at Achkeepster.

Type and Period (4)

Protected Status

Full Description

Footings of a former farmstead and enclosure at Achkeepster.

Lying to the south-east of the northern cluster, is a small rectangular enclosure annotated as a sheepfold on the OS First edition. To the south of this lie the footings of a building, suggesting that the sheepfold originated as part of a discrete cluster within the main settlement of Tormsdale; this building is not shown on the OS Second edition, though it reappears on the modern maps. The enclosure wall stands to c. 0.5m high, with particularly massive foundation stones at the corners. The interior, measuring 23m by 14m internally, is largely overgrown with sedge and the entrance is in the south-west corner. Immediately to the south of this enclosure and separated from it by wet ground, are the footings of a single building on a NE-SW alignment. Its level grassy interior appears to be slightly raised above the surrounding ground surface. Few stones are apparent in the walls and, in particular, the line of the eastern wall is difficult to distinguish. The building appears to measure 14m (NE-SW) by 3m (NW-SE), over walls only 0.3m high. A further 6m to the south is a roughly rectangular grass-covered area, measuring approximately 7m by 4m overall, around which there are slight suggestions of banking. This may be the result of the fact that surface of the rectangular area lies slightly above the surrounding marshy ground, but it is equally possible that this represents the stance of an earlier building; if this is the case then it might be the small building shown in roughly the same location on the OS First edition. A large clearance cairn, almost 1m high and with a diameter of approximately 7m, lies to the south. The track along the river bank which must have once linked all these settlements is visible just to the west. <1>

The building and enclosure are visible on vertical APs taken in 2009. GIS spatial data amended in 2019 accordingly. <2>

Sources/Archives (2)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred ND 1422 5008 (53m by 67m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	ND15SW
Civil Parish	WATTEN
Geographical Area	CAITHNESS

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Related Investigations/Events (1)

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