STRATHNAVER PROVINCE ARCHAEOLOGY PROJECT: LANGDALE, GRUMBEG, ACHADH AN EAS & & THE TULLOCH DATA STRUCTURE REPORT 2007 PROJECT 2406 carried out on behalf of Historic Scotland Contents 1.0 Executive Summary 7 2.0 Introduction 7 3.0 Site Location and Topography 7 4.0 Archaeological Background 7 5.0 Aims and Objectives 9 6.0 Methodology 10 7.0 Results 11 7.1 Langdale 12 7.2 Achadh an Eas 13 7.3 Grumbeg 16 7.4 The Tulloch 18 8.0 Discussion 19 9.0 Recommendations 19 10.0 Acknowledgements 19 11.0 Bibliography 20 12.0 Gazetteer of Sites 21 12.1 Langdale 21 12.2 Achadh an Eas 24 12.3 Grumbeg 26 12.4 DES 28 List of Figures Figure 1: Site Location 6 Figure 2: Extract from the first edition OS map (1878) of Langdale 11 Figure 3: Extract from the first edition OS map (1878) of Achadh an Eas 15 Figure 4: Extract from the first edition OS map (1878) of Grumbeg 16 Figure 5: Survey Plan of The Tulloch with Contour Model 17 List of Plates Plate 1: Cluster B at Langdale, from the north-west; The Tulloch lies beyond the trees 13 by the farmstead in background to left Plate 2: Longhouse in cluster G at Achadh an Eas, from the south-east 15 Plate 3: Longhouse GB 1 at Grumbeg Project website: http://www.northsutherlandarchaeology.org.uk © Glasgow University 2007 This report is one of a series published by GUARD, Gregory Building, Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow, G12 8QQ STRATHNAVER PROVINCE ARCHAEOLOGY PROJECT: LANGDALE, GRUMBEG, ACHADH AN EAS & THE TULLOCH DATA STRUCTURE REPORT 2007 PROJECT 2406 by Olivia Lelong and Amy Gazin-Schwartz This document has been prepared in accordance with GUARD standard operating procedures. Author: …………………………………………………………… Date: 30 November 2007 Dr Olivia Lelong Approved: …………………………………………………………… Date: 30 November 2007 Dr John Atkinson Project Pentland Firth 2406 Archaeological Survey A838 Bettyhill A836 Area shown to right Loch Eriboll Kyle of TongueTongue Orkney Islands Lewis Loch Hope Strathnaver Aberdeen Loyal Loch Area shown below Glasgow Edinburgh Loch Naver A836 Loch Haluim 871 Loch Loyal B 945000 mN Langdale A836 Loch Syre Tulloch Loch Syre Area of survey Syre Loch Coulside B871 l 873 Allt Lon a' Chui B Rosal Loch Eileanach 940000 mN 940000 mN Grumbeg B873 A836 Grummore Loch Naver Achadh an Eas M a lla rt R B873 ive r Altnaharra 935000 mN Cuire nam Feuran 2 2 2 Klebrig 60 65 70 000 mE 000 mE 000 mE A836 Reproduced from OS 1:25 000 scale & Land-Line Plus by permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of the Controller of 0 5 km Her Majesty's Stationary Office. All rights reserved. Licence number 100029241. Figure 1: Site Location. 1.0 Executive Summary This reports presents the results of several surveys, which were carried out in 2007 as part of the Strathnaver Province Archaeology Project. The project has been designed to further understanding of Medieval rural settlement on a regional scale across northern Sutherland, to inform future management of this archaeological resource and to encourage heritage awareness and a local sense of historical identity in the region. The five-year project consists of a programme of walkover survey, topographic survey, geophysical survey, trial trenching and excavation of sites with high potential for evidence of Medieval settlement in two areas of the former Province of Strathnaver: in the parish of Durness, particularly around the village of Durness, and in the valley of Strathnaver in the parish of Farr. The 2007 season involved three walkover surveys in Strathnaver, in order to assess the potential of several township sites for evidence of chronological complexity and early structures. These assessments involved comparing the visible surface remains in the townships of Langdale, Grumbeg and Achadh an Eas to those recorded on the first edition Ordnance Survey maps and identifying potentially early features. Topographic survey and detailed recording were also carried out of The Tulloch at Langdale, a substantial, banked enclosure of possible Medieval date. 2.0 Introduction Rapid walkover surveys were carried out at three cleared townships in the valley of Strathnaver, in northern Sutherland: Langdale, Grumbeg and Achadh an Eas. The walkover surveys involved recording visible surface remains by means of sketches, written descriptions and photographs of selected features, and comparing them to features recorded on the first edition Ordnance Survey maps of the area. These were designed to inform assessment of the township sites’ potential for chronological complexity and phasing, as evident from the visible archaeology. Topographic survey of the earthwork known as The Tulloch, near Langdale, produced a contour model of this banked and ditched enclosure, which may be of Medieval date. Another phase of survey was also carried out at the township of Ceannabeinne, near Durness; the results of this are presented in a separate report (GUARD 2326). 3.0 Site Location and Topography The surveyed sites all lie in upper Strathnaver or around Loch Naver (Figure 1). Langdale, in the upper part of the river valley, stretches along the western side of the River Naver, mainly on the post-glacial terraces that line the valley (centred at NC 6976 4528). The Tulloch stands on the valley floor in the southern part of the township, immediately east of the B871, at NC 6972 4494. Achadh an Eas is farther up the strath, to the east of where the river flows from Loch Naver. It occupies undulating, north-facing slopes to the east of the Allt na H’Eilich, south of its confluence with the River Naver (centred at NC 6680 3713). Grumbeg lies on undulating, south-facing slopes on the north side of Loch Naver near its eastern end (centred at NC 6343 3845). 4.0 Archaeological Background The evidence identified so far for Medieval settlement in the Province of Strathnaver hints at continuity of occupation on particular sites from the Early Medieval or Norse periods onward. Fieldwork undertaken as part of the Strathnaver Province Archaeology Project in 2006 focused on the township of Klibreck, on the south side of Loch Naver (Lelong & Gazin-Schwartz 2007). Walkover survey there identified structures of possible early date or considerable longevity. Trial excavation of four of these structures found that two (structures 63 and 65) were relatively ephemeral, defined by turf and stone walls, but produced no dating evidence; another building, a longhouse (structure 51), had been abandoned during the life of the township. Although the evidence from these three was more negative than positive, it is certainly possible to argue that they had fallen out of use by the eighteenth century and so pre-date that period. Another longhouse (structure 46) proved more complex, producing evidence of a central hearth that had been rebuilt or replaced three times, and the probable rebuilding of the eastern wall. Coarse pottery associated with the second phase of hearth suggested a date in the sixteenth century, based on comparison to similar pottery found at Borralie as part of the same overall project (Lelong & Gazin- Schwartz 2006). Klibreck is a Norse place-name, and it is mentioned in charters from the late thirteenth century onward; it also contains an early Christian chapel site. 7 Given that the survey and trial trenching at Klibreck found variations in the surface remains that appeared to represent phasing in the township, it was decided to assess the potential of other township sites in Strathnaver for evidence of similar chronological complexity. The three township sites selected all have some evidence of early origins, while The Tulloch may have parallels in Medieval Ireland. It is likely that Norse farmers began to settle in Strathnaver from as early as the ninth century AD (Crawford 1987, 40-42), giving names to their farms and to features in the landscape, and farms may have been established at Langdale, Klibreck, Grumbeg, Rosal and elsewhere during that period. Several of the township sites in Strathnaver have names that are Norse in origin. The name ‘Langdale’ is one of these, meaning ‘long field’ (Waugh 2000, 17). This seems to refer to the topographic character of this part of Strathnaver, and also suggests that it occupied land that had been cleared and perhaps used for cultivation or grazing. Other Norse place names in the strath include Rosal, Klibreck and Grumbeg. Grumbeg was recorded in 1551 as Gnowb Litil (OPS 1855), which Watson (1926) sees as deriving from the ON gnúpr or ‘peak’. Both Grumbeg and its neighbour Grummore are associated with the side of a large hill immediately to the south of the townships. Some or all of the several chapel sites that line the strath have Medieval origins, but some may be much earlier, pre-dating the period of Norse settlement. For example, the chapel site at Skaill, to the north of Langdale, is dedicated to St. Maelrubha, the Irish monk who founded the monastery at Applecross and died in A.D. 722 (NMRS NC74NW 2). It contains an upright, cross-incised stone that may date to the seventh or eighth century (Henderson 1987). The chapel site at Grumbeg has produced two simple, cross-incised stones (Macdonald & Laing 1970, 134), and that at Klibreck contains two standing stones, one of which is incised with a cross. The dedications for the chapel sites at Langdale, Grumbeg and Klibreck are unknown, although there is a well, dedicated to St. Martin (Tobair Claish Mhartain), recorded as being ‘near Grumbeg burial place’ (Mackay 1914, 34; NMRS NC63NW 9). (St. Martin, founder of the monastery at Tours in the fourth century A.D., inspired St. Ninian’s mission to Britain in the fifth century (Hill 1997, 1-4)). The chapel sites at Langdale, Skail, Rivigill and Klibrek were described as old burial grounds or the sites of former chapels in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (OPS 1855, 708; Pennant 1774, 325-26).