Archaeological Watching Brief at Ardcarrach, Carradale, Kintyre

CONTENTS PAGE

Figure 1. Site Location Map 2

Introduction 3

Background Information 3

Iron Bloomeries 3

West of Scotland Sites and Monuments Record sheet 7

The Watching Brief 8

Description of Standing Building 8

The Excavations 9

Field Survey 10

Figure 2. General view of excavation area to NNW 12

Figure 3. General view of excavation area, view to SE 12

Figure 4. Section of garden deposits and bedrock to east of house, view to NE 13

Figure 5. Font in gardens of Ardcarrach House 13

Summary of Results 14

Recommendations 14

Acknowledgements 14

Reporting 14

Discovery and Excavation in Scotland entry 15

Contents and Location of the Archive 16

Photographic Lists 17

Contact Addresses 18

Firat Archaeological Services 1 Archaeological Watching Brief at Ardcarrach, Carradale, Kintyre

Firat Archaeological Services 2 Archaeological Watching Brief at Ardcarrach, Carradale, Kintyre

Introduction

An archaeological watching brief was required at Ardcarrach House, Carradale, Kintyre (NGR. NR 819 386) during the excavation of foundation trenches for a new timber frame house which was being built inside the shell of a standing stone building.

The West of Scotland Archaeology Service, which serves Argyll and Bute Planning Department, identified an archaeological requirement due to the Sites and Monuments Record of an iron bloomery mound located in the immediate vicinity of the development. The objective of the archaeological watching brief was to ensure that the bloomery mound was avoided if possible and that if the foundation excavations disturbed it that a proper archaeological record was made.

No Terms of Reference was prepared for this project by the West of Scotland Archaeology Service and the scope of the work, as outlined above, was agreed verbally by Fiona Baker of Firat Archaeological Services (FAS) and Hugh McBrien (WoSAS). A copy of the Sites and Monuments record is included n this report.

The archaeological watching brief took place n 24 November 2000 on a dry and sunny day.

Ardcarrach (point of rock) is a later 19th century house of c. 1880 built on an artificially levelled terrace in a prominent position overlooking Carradale Harbour to the NE and the Kilbrannan Sound to the SE. The site of Airds Castle is located to the S of the house. The house and grounds are located at c. NGR NR 810 380

Background Information

Iron Bloomeries

Extract from Loch Lomond Islands Survey by Fiona Baker, 1995

Iron smelting sites are generally known as bloomeries and consist of small bowl furnaces for smelting the bog-ore and piles of slag, which are now generally overgrown. These bloomeries are thought to date to the late medieval period around the 13th or 14th centuries. However, this method of production had been in use from the earliest ironworking in Britain c. 500 BC. The quantity of bloom iron produced was very small, perhaps the size of a man’s fist, but the method of production was fairly simple and required only iron ore, charcoal, bellows and clay.

In the mid-18th century commercial iron furnaces such as those at Furnace and Bonawe in Argyll took over production from these small-scale bloomeries.

Firat Archaeological Services 3 Archaeological Watching Brief at Ardcarrach, Carradale, Kintyre

A bowl furnace consists of a shallow pit in which the iron ore and charcoal fuel or occasionally peat charcoal was placed. The pit was then covered over with a clay dome with a small hole in the top for the gas to escape and an opening for the bellows called a tuyere. A forced draught was necessary to reach the required temperatures and it has been noted that the bloomery hearths are generally not orientated into the prevailing wind. It would take five or six hours for the ore to reach the required temperature of 1100 to 1200°C. Once the material had become molten the impurities and inclusions would float on the top of the ore and this would have either been skimmed off and thrown away or allowed to run out of the lower opening of the hearth as “tap slag”. On completion of the smelting it was necessary to dismantle the hearth to extract the lump of iron or bloom.

MacAdam identified four different types of bloomery slag which represent different situations within the landscape. It is possible the location of these sites may also represent different periods of exploitation.

Iron is smelted or heated in order to remove the non-metallic constituents from the iron. At about 1200 degrees C the dross separated from the iron leaving a spongy lump of iron mixed with some remaining slag. This raw iron bloom was of poor quality and required repeated heating and hammering to drive out the impurities before it could be made into tools.

Wrought iron was the earliest type of iron produced and it was not until the late 15th century invention of the blast furnace that cast iron could be made. Cast iron is much harder and stronger and could only be produced when technological advances allowed the melting point of iron (1635 degree C) to be reached. Wrought iron could be hardened into a form of steel by heating it to c. 900 degrees C and covering it with carbon, i.e. charcoal, which would become partially absorbed into the metal.

Bloomery sites are located where there was easy access to fuel and iron ore, the sites are nearly always located beside water or at least within 50 metres of a water supply though water is not essential to the process.

W G Aitken’s work on bloomeries mostly in the Rannoch area has examined around twenty-six bloomeries and identified many more including the bloomery mound at Carradale. The hearths excavated by Mr Aitken were either circular or rectangular in shape and occasionally had stone flagged floors though a clay lining was more common. Two main types of slag heaps were identified, circular ones and a “crag and tail” type. The slag heaps showed a tendency to become scattered away from the bloomery site.

Firat Archaeological Services 4 Archaeological Watching Brief at Ardcarrach, Carradale, Kintyre

Aitken’s excavations determined that the bowl of the hearth generally did not exceed 0.40m in diameter and was 0.30m deep or less, the rectangular hearths are slightly larger at c. 0.50m x 0.35m. The hearths are constructed of stone and tend to be built on a slight slope with small openings at the high end and low end. Only one site excavated by Aitken at Ardmarnock, near Kames, Argyll, provided evidence of a clay dome over the hearth although several of the other sites suggested clay had been used to make the stone hearth airtight. However, the size of bowl and presence of clay domes will vary, dependant on the availability of materials.

In 1456 the Laird of Buchanan obtained a licence to manufacture iron and pay the Crown Rent of Duchray and Drummond with some of the iron produced. The bloomeries producing the iron were located in north-east Dunbartonshire, north-west Stirlingshire and south-west Perthshire. Although none of these sites has been positively identified on the ground as being part of this operation, this information at least provides an indication of the date of some of the bloomeries. Bloomeries of the type excavated by Aitken are known to have originated around the 1st century BC and continued to the middle 16th century or a bit later in some areas.

The threat to the forests as the requirement for charcoal grew after the invention of the blast furnace is attested in a 1609 Act of the Scottish Parliament to protect the forests. The English forests had already been over-exploited and the Scottish ones were evidently considered to be under threat. In 1603 a restriction was enforced limiting the export of iron ore and it is from this time that the Scottish iron industry became established.

In 1607 Sir George Hay started a large commercial ironworks at Letterewe in Ross- shire and in 1610 he was gifted the rights to iron and glass production in Scotland for thirty-one years. Moreover, in 1621 he was granted the right to transport his iron to any burgh or port in Scotland. It is clear that the early commercial iron industry was actively encouraged by the Scottish Parliament.

After the 1715 Rebellion Scotland was no longer in a position to control her own resources and the 18th century saw a massive expansion of the commercial iron industry. Many English owned iron furnaces grew up from the 1730s onwards and the ore was often imported from England to be smelted at the expense of Scotland’s native woodland.

The 18th century also saw the expansion of Glasgow as a centre of commercial enterprise. The successful dredging of the Clyde from the 1770s onwards saw the whole emphasis of the Clyde shift from Dumbarton to Glasgow and the development

Firat Archaeological Services 5 Archaeological Watching Brief at Ardcarrach, Carradale, Kintyre of a large iron industry in the city, which Loch Lomond was well placed to supply. The increase in demand for charcoal coupled with the clearance of the land for improved agriculture and sheep farming would doubtless have severely depleted Loch Lomond’s native forest.

SOURCES Adkins L and Adkins R 1983 The Handbook of British Archaeology MacMillan.

Aitken W 1970 “Excavations of Bloomeries in Rannoch, Perthshire and elsewhere”. in PSAS 1969-70, 188-204.

MacAdam W I 1886 “Notes on the Ancient Iron Industry in Scotland” PSAS 1886.

Firat Archaeological Services 6 Archaeological Watching Brief at Ardcarrach, Carradale, Kintyre

Firat Archaeological Services 7 Archaeological Watching Brief at Ardcarrach, Carradale, Kintyre

The Watching Brief

The archaeological watching brief of the foundation trenches for a new timber frame house was undertaken on 24 November 2000 in dry and sunny conditions.

Description of the Standing Building

The foundation trenches for the new building are located within the remains of a standing stone building that was formerly used as a small cattle byre, pig sty and chicken shed and latterly as a garage and storage shed. The structure had an asbestos roof, which had been removed prior to the watching brief and the W wall had been reduced to foundation level prior to the present site works.

The standing building is constructed of undressed quarried shale bonded in lime mortar with some concrete rendering to the interior of the building and occasional concrete repairs to the exterior. The building measures 12.5m x 5.35m and is aligned NW-SE at 328°. The walls are 0.32m thick and stand to 2.43m high on the N, E and S sides and the building is now open to the garden along the W side. It is clear that this building is part of the original construction of the garden / property boundary wall and the E and S walls are all part of the same phase of building.

It is apparent that the building originally had a timber roof and ceramic pipe lined beamslots are visible in the N and E walls. The wall head of the N wall is flat and there is no evidence of gable ends on the N and S walls indicating that the building had a low and gently sloping roof rather than a pitched roof. The building was a single storey structure with a small and low attic space, which would have provided a storage area.

The structure has been altered over its lifetime and the alterations probably reflect the different uses the building has had. As the E and S walls are part of the property boundary wall it is reasonable to suggest that the building is as old as the house and that it dates to the later 19th century. The N wall is also contemporary with the E and S walls and is well keyed into the property boundary wall indicating it is an original feature.

It appears that the building may have had a number of uses over its lifetime and this is reflected in the insertion of window apertures. And the differences in concrete render ‘plaster’ and concrete pebbledash render within the interior, especially visible in the S interior elevation where the different render types indicate where a partition once divided the building into two halves along its length or an interior room from a porch.

There are two windows and a doorway in the S wall, which appear to be features of long standing although they may be later insertions. Not enough of the wall survived to be able to determine if they were later insertions. The iron fittings for a gate are visible in the jambs of the doorway in the S wall. A slot for a gate fitting is present in the W end of the S wall of the building which corresponds to a slot in the E end of the garden wall that runs off to the W from where the SW corner of the building would have been located. However, traces of differences in render in the interior elevation of the S wall and a wall scar suggests that this wall has been extended towards the W

Firat Archaeological Services 8 Archaeological Watching Brief at Ardcarrach, Carradale, Kintyre and that the original wall was only 1.90m long. This is also visible in the N interior elevation where the scar of an earlier wall is clear and it is apparent that the building was originally a long shed of 1.90m interior width with walls 0.32m thick.

The N and S walls were extended at a later date to enlarge the building from 1.60m E- W to 5.00m E-W although the N-S interior dimension of the main building appears to have remained constant at c.9.40m. Two separate rooms were located at the NW and NE corners of the main building which were separated by a small entrance area. The interior of the standing building was divided into three separate rooms. The two small rooms at the N wall and a long shed to the S. Sheds are built against the N side of the N wall but these were not examined in detail, as they will not be affected by the present building works.

In the N wall a window has been inserted at the E end of the wall. All of the windows and doors have brick and concrete repairs and finishing to their edges and this work has been undertaken recently, presumably to seal exposed wall cores where the original stone or timber lintels and jambs were removed. In the E wall the northernmost window has been inserted during the current building works and the wall head has been rebuilt.

Various dook holes, some containing wood, were present in all three standing walls and some are clearly fittings for mangers.

As noted above the W wall of the building ha been removed to foundation level with only a stub of wall 0.06m high remaining along the line of the W wall. An ornamental garden wall runs NE-SW along the W side of the building about 1.0m to the W of where the building’s W wall stood. There was no visible trace of the where the now demolished W wall of the building would have keyed in to the S wall on the S wall.

The building has a concrete slab floor with a central N-S drainage channel 0.11m wide and 0.04m deep running the length of the interior.

Measured sketches and schematic diagrams of the building plan are included in the archive notes.

The Excavations

The concrete floor that covered the interior of the standing building was removed by machine to expose the underlying soils within the solum. The excavations for the new foundations were to a depth of 9 inches (235mm) so that 6 inches (150mm) of hardcore could be laid with a damp proof membrane over it and a new concrete floor on that. The foundation trenches of the new walls were to be dug to a depth of 0.40m although in practice bedrock outcrops meant that the actual depth of the foundations varied between 0.30m to 0.60m. The foundation trenches were 0.30m – 0.40m wide and measure 10.5m N-S x 6.00m E-W.

The foundations of the standing building were exposed along the interior of the E wall to a depth of 0.50m. The foundations of the standing building are 0.30m – 0.40m

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deep and have been built directly onto bedrock which undulates giving a variable foundation depth. In the doorway of the E wall a threshold stone has been laid directly onto the bedrock outcrop that forms the wall foundation in this area.

Directly underlying the concrete floor in the SE part of the building was a 0.50m deep layer of dark brown to black organic clayey silt. The upper 0.20m of this deposit was slightly laminated and contained what FAS interprets from past experience as decomposed cow dung. This deposit was highly organic and is taken to represent a mixture of garden midden and natural peat. Occasional inclusions of gravels and white quartz pebbles and very occasional sheep, cattle and chicken bones including one butchered sheep bone were recovered. No artefacts were found within this organic layer but some later 20th century material was found immediately under the concrete floor which corresponds well with the modifications visible in the standing building. Apart from the black organic soil located in the SE quadrant of the building the concrete floor was found to lie directly on the old ground surface of dark brown – black clayey silt which overlay a shallow pale grey and yellow 90% clay and 10% sand subsoil which overlay shale bedrock.

It appears that the ‘natural’ soil is clayey organic peat and that a concentration of dung and organic plant material had accumulated and rotted in the SE corner of the room. This material is described as midden even though it is not rich in bone or artefacts and it is more accurate to describe it as the location of a compost heap. The nature and distribution of butchered bone and chicken bones suggest compost heap rather than a domestic occupation rubbish pit.

No archaeological deposits of significance were discovered within the area of the excavations and it must be remembered that this building has been constructed on the artificial terrace on which the house and its grounds are built. Evidence elsewhere also confirmed that the garden soil had been made-up on the E side of the house to the N of the excavation area. It is probable that the topsoil on this artificial terrace is entirely redeposited material brought in and recycled from the excavations of the terrace in the late 19th century to create a garden.

Field Survey

No trace of the bloomery mound that had triggered the archaeological response of a watching brief was located in the area of the new house foundations. Fiona Baker of FAS and Cathy and Lydia Forbes of Ardcarrach conducted a field survey of the immediately surrounding area to try and locate the bloomery mound.

Immediately to the E side of Ardcarrach house a cut into the higher banked up ground of the garden was exposed where a new shelter was in the process of being built. This section revealed made-up garden ground overlying clayey subsoil on bedrock outcrops. No archaeological features or levels were observed under the made up garden soil.

The search for the bloomery mound covered the E part of the field immediately to the N of Ardcarrach House and the back garden of Harbour House. The rocky knoll to

Firat Archaeological Services 10 Archaeological Watching Brief at Ardcarrach, Carradale, Kintyre

the N of Ardcarrach down to the harbour, all along the E side of the house outside of the garden wall and the land for c. 100m to the S of the excavation area was walked over. The result is a bloomery mound not found. Absolutely no trace of the recorded bloomery mound was located and given the grid reference it seems unlikely this site has been destroyed by later development. The topographic location for the reported bloomery mound was not entirely suitable for iron smelting. The frequent rocky outcrops, sheer cliffs and lack of watercourses did not suggest the best situation for a bloomery. The only mounds in the landscape of size and shape that might have represented a bloomery mound were all found to be natural bedrock outcrops with no trace of iron smelting activity.

On the rocky promontory immediately to the N of Ardcarrach a rock cut room was located with a fireplace and chimney built up against the E wall of bedrock. This feature is well known locally as the site of a now demolished cottage. A dog’s grave with gravestone was located and a cut trackway and various dumps are present in this area.

About 30m to the SE of Ardcarrach House and garden at the base of an escarpment the rectangular foundation of a building was located. The foundation is made of cast concrete and measures 5.0, E-W x 3.8m N-S and is 0.25m wide and 0.20m high. This small cottage was built right up against the escarpment with a spectacular view down the Kilbrannan Sound. Local tradition holds that this cottage belonged to a man who made his fortune in copper mining in Zimbabwe but retired to live the life of a hermit in this tiny cottage. The site is known as the Zimbabwe House.

To the SW of Ardcarrach two natural springs at the base of a rock escarpment were assessed. It is clear that these springs are entirely natural and that they have silted up over the years. Local memory records them as having once been more accessible as a source of drinking water.

Firat Archaeological Services 11 Archaeological Watching Brief at Ardcarrach, Carradale, Kintyre

Figure 2. General view of area of excavations viewed to the NNW, prior to excavation.

Figure 3. General view of excavation area with foundation lines marked out in yellow, viewed to the SE prior to excavations.

Firat Archaeological Services 12 Archaeological Watching Brief at Ardcarrach, Carradale, Kintyre

Figure 4. Section of made-up garden soil overlying bedrock outcrop on the E side of Ardcarrach House, view to the NE.

Figure 5. The font at Ardcarrach, origin unknown, as displayed in the garden at S side of house.

Firat Archaeological Services 13 Archaeological Watching Brief at Ardcarrach, Carradale, Kintyre

Summary of Results

No archaeological deposits of antiquity were located on the artificial terrace created on the 19th century on which Ardcarrach is built. Made up garden soil was observed in a section and the remains of a compost heap was located in the SE corner of the excavation area.

A search of the surrounding area for the recorded bloomery mound failed to locate any trace of this mound and the surveyors are of the opinion that no bloomery mound exists at the recorded grid reference.

A stone font and two rotary querns in the grounds of Ardcarrach are noted. The owners are uncertain to their origin and they have been there for as long as living memory.

The foundations of a small cottage known as Zimbabwe Cottage were recorded to the S of Ardcarrach. Two springs at the escarpment to the SW of Ardcarrach were noted and are marked on the OS map.

Recommendations

No further archaeological work is required. FAS recommends the bloomery site recorded at NGR NR 819 386 is noted as not found during 2000 survey in the Sites and Monuments record.

Acknowledgements

Fiona Baker carried out the fieldwork and reporting. The West of Scotland Archaeology Service specified the scope of the work and monitored the project. Fiona Baker is grateful to the Dudley and Forbes families for their hospitality and assistance. Eric Dudley has produced the maps

Eric Dudley and Cathy Forbes of Ardcarrach funded the project.

Reporting

Five copies of this report have been produced and supplied to: • The Dudley Forbes Family of Ardcarrach (2 copies) • West of Scotland Archaeology Service (including disk copy and photograph of font) • National Monuments Record of Scotland • Firat Archaeological Services

Firat Archaeological Services 14 Archaeological Watching Brief at Ardcarrach, Carradale, Kintyre

Discovery and Excavation in Scotland

Local Authority: Argyll and Bute

Site Name: Ardcarrach, Carradale

Parish: Saddell

Name of Contributor: Fiona Baker

Type of Site or Find: Recorded bloomery mound not found

NGR: NR 819 386

Report:

An archaeological watching brief was carried out during excavations for a new house at Ardcarrach, Carradale. A bloomery mound had been recorded in the immediate vicinity of the site. Despite the watching brief and a field survey of the area no trace of this bloomery mound could be found. The surveyor is doubtful one ever existed at the recorded grid reference and the location is unsuitable for such an activity. It is possible a bloomery mound may be obscured or have been destroyed by building works and storage facilities around Carradale harbour but this is outside of the recorded location.

Sponsors: Dudley Forbes Family

Address of Main Contributor: Hillcroft, Station Road, Rhu, G84 8LW

Firat Archaeological Services 15 Archaeological Watching Brief at Ardcarrach, Carradale, Kintyre

Contents and Location of the Archive

The archive is currently held by Firat Archaeological Services and will be deposited in the National Monuments Record of Scotland within the next six months.

The Archive contains: • One bound copy of this report • One copy of the report on disk • Original field notes and sketches • Photographs as listed • Annotated site map showing field survey area • Foundation plan and section of new house at 1:50.

Firat Archaeological Services 16 Archaeological Watching Brief at Ardcarrach, Carradale, Kintyre

Photographic Lists

COLOUR PRINT

Roll No. 1 Frame View to Description 4 E General view prior to excavations 5 NNW General view prior to excavations 6 NNW General view prior to excavations 7 SE General view prior to excavations 8 NW Foundation trench at E wall 9 NE New shed on E side of house 10 NW The Zimbabwe House 11+12 W Foundation trench as dug for W wall 13 S Excavations at end of 24.11.00 and on completion of the watching brief 14 S Font at Ardcarrach 15 NW Font at Ardcarrach 16 NW Font at Ardcarrach (sent to WoSAS)

COLOUR SLIDE

Roll No. 1 Frame View to Description 30 E General view prior to excavations 31 NNW General view prior to excavations 32 NNW General view prior to excavations 33 SE General view prior to excavations 34 NW Foundation trench at E wall 35 NE New shed on E side of house 36 NW The Zimbabwe House

BLACK AND WHITE PRINT

Roll No. 1 Frame View to Description 13 E General view prior to excavations 14 NNW General view prior to excavations 15 NNW General view prior to excavations 16 SE General view prior to excavations 17 NW Foundation trench at E wall 18 NE New shed on E side of house 19 NW The Zimbabwe House 20+21 W Foundation trench as dug for W wall 22 S Excavations at end of 24.11.00 and on completion of

Firat Archaeological Services 17 Archaeological Watching Brief at Ardcarrach, Carradale, Kintyre

Contact Addresses

Firat Archaeological Services Hillcroft Station Road Rhu Argyll G84 8LW

Contact: Fiona Baker Tel: 01436 820334 Fax: 01436 820051

Eric Dudley and Cathy Forbes Ardcarrach Carradale Kintyre Argyll PA28 6SQ

Tel: 01583 431787

West of Scotland Archaeology Service 20 India Street Glasgow G2 4PF

Contact: Hugh McBrien Tel: 0141 287 8332 Fax: 0141 287 9529

Firat Archaeological Services 18