An Archaeological Survey for the Uileann Hydro Scheme, Ardtornish Estate, Morvern, Lochaber, Highland
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
An Archaeological Survey for the Uileann Hydro Scheme, Ardtornish Estate, Morvern, Lochaber, Highland. For Hydroplan UK. September 2010. Jennifer G. Robertson MA PhD FSA Scot. MIFA Garden Cottage, Ardtornish Estate, Morvern, By Oban, Argyll, PA34 5UZ. Tel. 01967 421234. E-Mail [email protected] 1. Summary. Twelve archaeological sites, comprising 24 individual monuments, were recorded in a desk-based and walkover survey at Uileann, Ardtornish Estate, Morvern, Lochaber, Highland. All were associated with the agricultural landscape of either the pre- clearance townships or with the subsequent phase of sheep-farming. No Scheduled Ancient Monuments are situated within or near the survey area. Impact assessment and mitigation is summarised in the table below. Site No. Impact Assessment Mitigation Site 1 Situated close to pipeline No action required ? Circular feature Site 2 Not at risk No action required Shielings Site 3 Not at risk No action required ? Circular feature Site 4 Situated close to pipeline No action required ?Structure Site 5 On route of pipeline No action required Drainage ditches Site 6 Will be cut by pipeline No action required Fence Site 7 Not at risk No action required Dyke Site 8 Dyke Situated close to pipeline To be avoided Site 9 Situated close to pipeline To be avoided Enclosed arable Site 10 Situated close to pipeline To be avoided Sheepfank Site 11 Situated close to pipeline No action required Drainage ditches Site 12 Not at risk No action required Alltachonaich Township 2. Introduction. An archaeological survey was undertaken on behalf of Hydroplan UK., at Uileann, Ardtornish Estate, Morvern, Lochaber, Highland (OS 1:10.000 Sheets NM75SW, NM75SE, NM74NE), prior to the proposed construction of a hydro scheme. (See Fig 1: Location Map) J.G.Robertson. Ardtornish. September 2010. 1 Fig. 1: Location Map (Extract from OS Landranger 49 Oban and East Mull) (© Crown copyright 1984. All rights reserved. Licence number 10044103) The proposed hydro scheme at Uileann will capture water principally from the Allt Buidhe Mor, with subsidiary sources further North on Allt a’ Chonaich and Allt na Criche (See Fig. 5) All three streams are tributaries of Allt Beitheach, which flows through Gleann Geal, translated as the White Glen. A pipeline will run along the left bank of Allt Buidhe Mor from Intake 1, along the NE side of Uileann plantation to an almost right-angled bend in the stream, where the pipeline turns southwestwards into the forest and then follows the left bank of Allt Buidhe Beag. After another turn to the West it arrives at the power house, situated to the SE of Uileann House, beside the sweeping curve in Allt Buidhe Mor, which may represent the “elbow,” after which Uileann is named. This pipeline is joined by a second pipeline from Intake 2 on Allt a’ Chonaich, while an aqueduct carries water to the latter from Intake 3 on Allt na Criche. The survey area consists of a narrow strip of ground, 50m either side of the proposed pipelines, an area 50m in diameter around the intakes and 100m in diameter around the powerhouse. The survey area lies on granites of the Strontian complex and consists of moderately sloping ground, rising from a height of 90m OD to 210m OD. The lower part of the pipeline runs through Uileann plantation, which was ploughed and planted with conifers in the 1970’s. The Uileann plantation was the subject of a desk-based and walkover survey by the writer in 2003, as part of an estate forestry plan. (Robertson, 2003) J.G.Robertson. Ardtornish. September 2010. 2 3. Working Methods. The survey consisted of a combination of a desk-based assessment and a rapid walkover survey. 3.1. Desk-based Assessment. The desk-based assessment consisted of the consultation of a variety of sources: 3.1.1. Sites and Monuments Registers. a) The National Monuments Record of Scotland (NMRS), held by RCAHMS, John Sinclair House, 16 Bernard Terrace, Edinburgh EH8 9NX, available on www.rcahms.gov.uk b) The Historic Environment Record (HER), held by the Highland Council Archaeology Unit, Planning and Development Service, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness, IV3 5NX, available on www.ambaile.org Three sites are relevant to the survey area: NMRS NM75SE. 2: (HER MHG 585) Allt Buidhe Mor: shieling huts. NMRS NM75SE.4: (HER MHG 63) Allt Beitheach / Alltachonaich: farmstead, dyke. NMRS NM75SW.11: (HER MHG 584) Uilean Township. 3.1.2. Maps. a) William Roy’s Map of Scotland, 1747-55. b) George Langlands & Sons: Map of Argyleshire, 1801. c) Plan of the lands of Achranich, surveyed 1815 by Alexander Langlands. (Ardtornish Estate Archives) d) Plan of Farms in Morvern, Argyllshire The Property of His Grace The Duke of Argyll, 1819 (Scottish Record Office RH 3260) e) John Thomson: the Atlas of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1832. f) OS 1st Ed. 6” Map Sheet: Argyllshire LV, surveyed 1872, publ. 1875. g) OS 2nd Ed. 6” Map, publ. 1900. h) OS 1:10,000 Sheets NM 75 SW and NM 75 SE, 1974. i) OS Explorer 1:25,000, 2002. 3.1.3. Archives. a) Ardtornish Estate Archives: Maps (see above). Achranich Estate Farm Ledgers 1853-1857; 1858-65. Raven, Faith: “ My Forestry Enterprise at Ardtornish. A Personal View written from memory”, October 1986. Robertson, Jennifer G.: “An Archaeological Survey of Woodlands in Glean Geal, Morvern, Argyll”, an unpublished report for Ardtornish Estate Company, November 2003. b) Scottish Record Office, Edinburgh: Map (see above) c) Fort William Library: Census of Morvern 1841, 1851, 1861. 3.1.4. Aerial Photographs. Aerial photographs were consulted in the RCAHMS Air Photo Unit: a) 106G/Scot/UK 101; Date 19.5.1946; Scale 1:10,800; Frames 3282-3284, 4034- 4037. b) 106G/UK/35; Date 27.4.1946; Scale 1:10,000; Frames 5179-5181. c) OS 62 018; Date 17.4.1962; Scale 1:27,000; Frames 031, 032. d) OS 67 322; Date 21.8.1967; Scale 1:27,000; Frames 249-250. J.G.Robertson. Ardtornish. September 2010. 3 3.1.5. Published Sources. Cregeen, Eric 1963: Inhabitants of the Argyll Estate, 1779, Scottish Record Society. Philip Gaskell 1968: Morvern Transformed, Cambridge. Innes, C, 1854: Origines Parochiales Scotiae, (3 vols in 2) Vol II pt I. Nicholas Maclean-Bristol 1998: Inhabitants of the Inner Isles Morvern and Arnamurchan 1716, Scottish Record Society. RCAHMS 1980 Argyll An Inventory of the Monuments Vol. 3 Mull, Tiree, Coll and Northern Argyll, HMSO. J.F. Scott: “The Parish of Morvern” in Scot. Geog. Mag. Vol 70, 2, Sept 1954. 3.2. Fieldwork. The desk-based research was followed by a rapid walkover survey. This was undertaken in dry, mostly sunny conditions by the writer on 3rd - 5th June 2010 with additional survey on 27th August 2010. The late Spring in 2010 meant that vegetation growth did not pose a problem in the bulk of the survey work, carried out in June. However, survey was hampered in the lower part of the pipeline within the Uileann plantation, which had been ploughed with deep furrows, prior to forestry planting in 1971-3, so that most of the archaeological sites within have been severely damaged. Sites, identified in the desk-based survey, could not be located. 4. Historical Background. Gleann Geal, translated as “the White Glen”, has a long, though not necessarily continuous, history of occupation. At the South West end of the valley, a Mesolithic flint scatter was found at Acharn (NMRS NM65SE.6), and Bronze Age cists and kerbed cairns occur, also at Acharn and at the adjacent site of Claggan. (NMRS NM65SE.4 and 5; NM64NE.7; RCAHMS, 1980, 48-50, 54-5) At the North East end of the glen, a wooden keg, containing bog butter, was found in 1879 during peat- digging at Beach, possibly in the peat banks at NM 765 537. (NMRS NM75SE.1) The keg was radio-carbon dated to between 183 and 226 AD, and is now on display in the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh. A string of settlements was gradually established along the White Glen. The earliest record is in 1390, when 3 pennylands of “Vlgadall” (Uladail), 2 ½ pennylands of “Nasrone” (Sron) and 2 ½ pennylands of “Achagtaeegeneruflang” (Achnatavishruskline) were granted by the Lord of the Isles to Lachlan Makgilleone. (Innes, 1854, 190) The remains of the latter two settlements are situated on the NW side of the Gleann Geal, opposite, and clearly visible from, the survey area. Further grants of lands were recorded for Clounlaid and Achtidonile in 1494 and 1496 respectively, for Altachonaich in 1509, for Uileann in 1635 and for Acharn and Beach in 1674. (op. cit., 190-1) The first clear evidence of settlement in the area is on Roy’s Map of 1747-55, in which houses are marked at several of these sites, including Alltachonaich, relevant to the present survey area. (See Fig. 2) The township of “Aldihonnich” consisted of up to six buildings surrounded by an extensive area of arable ground. These may equate with the remains of six buildings, Sites 12a-f, recorded on either side of an unnamed tributary of Allt Beitheach in the present survey. None of the buildings is at risk from the proposed hydro scheme, though two dykes and associated arable ground, Sites 7-9, are potentially within the range of the proposed pipeline between Allt a’ Chonaich and Allt Buidhe Mor. Alltachonaich was part of Kingairloch Estate from at least the early 16th century until the 1870’s, only becoming part of Ardtornish Estate in 1900. (Gaskell, 1968, 166) In 1841, one house was occupied by Dugald MacInnes, an agricultural labourer, and his family but three houses were occupied in 1851, with a total population of 16.