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MHG66046 - Ice house - Inverhope

Summary

A bi-compartmental structure built from well dressed, mortared stone blocks.

Type and Period (1)

Protected Status

Full Description

A rapid coastal zone assessment survey was conducted by GUARD in the Autumn of 1997 commissioned by Historic Scotland from the Viking and Early Settlement Archaeological Research Project based at the University of Glasgow.

At the mouth of a small burn feeding into the River Hope is a bi-compartmental structure built from well dressed, mortared stone blocks. This structure has been built in an area that has been quarried out of sloping ground so that the ground surface at the front is at the level of the entrance but the ground surface at the rear is at the level of the roof. This structure is approximately 10.5 m long by 4.5 m wide externally and stands to 4.5 m high and is in a good state of preservation. The interior of the structure has a barrel-vaulted ceiling that is still intact and both compartments have a pebble-cobbled floor clearly visible through accumulating mud deposits. The structure is entered through a 3.5 m by 2.5 m (internally) courtyard which is enclosed by 1.5 m high walls. The interior floor surface of this yard is partially obscured with tumble, debris and undergrowth. The doorway into this courtyard is at the NE and on the same alignment as the doorway into the first compartment of the structure. This room measures 3.5 m wide by 2.5 m internally and has a dividing wall with two openings to the second compartment. The first is high in the centre of the wall at the level of the roof and the other is a doorway at the right-hand side of the room. The rear compartment is bigger than the first and measures 3.5 m wide by 5 m. There is an opening on the back wall which is at the level of the roof and takes the form of a chute from the raised ground-surface at the rear of the building, feeding into this compartment.

This is clearly where the ice would have been delivered, with access gained to the chute at the rear via the raised ground into which this structure has been built. The ice-house is effectively a subterranean structure which presumably would have helped to maintain a low temperature. There are no interior fittings within the structure although the iron door-hinges are still in place around the interior frames. This building may relate to fishing and the preservation of the catch. There are several associated features outside the structure itself. At the north(front) of the courtyard there is a small ditch which skirts the structure and a small concrete step which straddles it at the entrance. Also at the rear of the structure is a deep channel cut through the turf, some 5-7 m from the chute. This area is very overgrown so it is difficult to ascertain whether or not this feature is related to this structure. It may be that there was a system of drainage-cuts to keep ground water from flooding the ice-house. Although this building is in good condition and structurally sound there is water dripping from the roof in the interior and the mortar is degrading due to the damp atmosphere. There are a number of trees, bushes and a thick covering of grass on the top of the roof, all of which will eventually either disturb the stonework via root-action or create a weight overburden which will bring the roof in. The burn which flows past the doorway and the River Hope itself have periodically burst through the natural banks and man-made revetments and encroached on the path in front of this building. <1>

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

Sources/Archives (2)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NC 4770 6130 (9m by 11m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NC46SE
Geographical Area	SUTHERLAND
Civil Parish	DURNESS

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