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The Schoolhouse· 4 Lochend Road· Leith· Edinburgh· EH6 8BR AGe telephone 01315554425· fax 01315554426 SCOTLAND your ref Ltd our ref Mr John Wood Highland Council Archaeologist The Old School High Street Clachnaharry Inverness 1V36BR Kinlochleven Forestry Survey 22th April 1996 Dear John, I have recently returned from leave and in checking the report for Kinlochleven F.S. which was prepared in my absence 1 noted a problem in the referencing ofthe sites on the map to the sites in the gazetteer. Corrections have now been made, and while the solution is not ideal (Cross referencing the numbers on the map into the gazetteer) it does the job. J apologise for any inconvenience this oversight may have caused you. Yours sincerely Christopher Burgess Survey Manager --. Company Number 120931 . Financial Director P Macgill· Managing Director] Barber MA FSA (London) FSA (Scotland) Pre-afforestation survey at Kinlochleven, Highland Region. Chris Burgess March 1996 Client: Historic Scotland AOC (Scotland) Ltd The Schoolhouse 4 Lochend Road Leith Edinburgh EH68BR STAFF PROJECTMANAGER JBARBER PROJECTDIRECTOR CBURGESS SURVEYORS DENISE CARUTHERS MURRA Y COOK SAMMACKEAND STUARTROBER7;<;ON GILLIAN SCOFIELD SARAH WHITCHER ILLUSTRATOR SYLVIA STEVENSON CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUC170N 3 2.0 METHODOLOGY 3 3.0 GAZETTEER OFSITES 4 4.0 DISCUSSIONAND CONCLUSIONS 33 A1.0 FEATURE CROSS REFERENCELIST 36 FIGURES I 1:10000 PLANOFSITE LOCA170NS LOOSE \ 1.0 INTRODUCTION This survey was carried out in 7 days during early March 1996 within a 20 km' area situated on the shores of Loch Leven (ca. IS Km to the south of Fort William, Highland Region) between the Village of Glen Cae ( 8 Km to the west of Kinloehleven) on the south side and a similar point on the north shore and the Blackwater dam (3 K.1n to the cast of Kinloehleven.) and between the 0.0 m and the 350.0 m contour. With the agreement of Historic Scotland all land already forested was excluded from the survey area. This represented an area of about 5 km2 that was found to be under a mixture ofoak and silver birch 'scrub'. The overall survey area was further reduced by as mnch as 5 km2 on an ad hoc basis on the ground when land that was too steep to walk on (in a lot of cases was to steep to form a soil) was also excluded. Conditions for the survey were near perfect for all the days on which work was carried out except for one when rain and low cloud made conditions difficult. During the survey a total ofabout 100 new monuments, not previously recorded in the National Monuments Record or the Regional Sites and Monuments Record, were recorded. Some of these sites have been deemed to be elements of the same larger monument and have therefore been grouped together under the same monument number to give the 82 monuments listed in the Gazetteer, section 3.0. 2.0 METHODOLOGY. With 3 teams operating simultaneously, the survey area was broken into 50 discrete parcels. These parcels were defined using topographic features marked on the 1: 10000 map (Figure I) and walking was carried out by two person teams walking in transects within areas not excluded. Each parcel has an individual record fonn upon which unwalked (wooded or steep slope) have been marked. Located monuments were recorded with a description and an eight-figure National Grid Reference arrived at by compass resection and accurate to a 10m diameter tolerance. While no archaeological survey ever has a 100% recovery rate, limited validation or quality control carried out in poor conditions showed an apparent 100% rate of recovery in areas that were checked. 3 3.0 GAZETTEER OFSI1ES. 3.1 Explanation The following gazetteer contains the 84 discrete monuments discovered during the survey. The monuments are in order in the gazetteer to plot out on to a map starting in the northwest corner and ending in the southeast comer, each individual entry is laid out in the following fashion. (The map number links each individual entry to the locations marked on Figure I.) Unique monument Number Map number (Parcel/monument) National Grid Reference, height in metres a.D. Description (Including situation and dimensions) Rejerences (Statement oldate o/recording and other sources) 3.2 GAZETTEER 1 22/1 NN 19186418 200-205 m a.D. Platfonu (Charcoal burning?) Situated on southwest facing slopes this platform measures 5.5 m in diameter and stands, revetted with dry stone a its down hill edge, to a height of 1.0 m. It is excavated into the hill slope to a depth of 0.5 m on its up hill side Traces of stone revetment may also be seen lining this excavation on the north side ofthe site. Field Walking 6/3/1996 2 21/1 NN 1915 6415 290-295 m a.D. Enclosure This oval enclosure measures 7.5 m east - west and 4.8 m north - south and is situated on a west facing slope. The enclosure is of drystone construction standing to a height of 1.3 m at its west end (down hill) and only 0.1 m at its east end (up hill) there is an entrance towards the west end ofthe nOlth wall. There are signs of a second similar stmcture inullediately to the northwest of this site, dlOUgh it is too minous to be sure of its form. Field Walking 6/3/1996 3 SOil NN 2000 6305 330 m 0.0. Mining strike/Shell hole This group of three pits is situated on north facing slopes. Measuring 10.0 m by 6.0 m these pits are up to 2.5 m in depth and irregular in shape. Field Walking 10/3/1996 4 1311-17 NN 18506300 220-260 m 0.0. Military road Known as 'Wade's Road' after the General who supervised its constmction, this military road (MR.8) runs from Stirling via Crial1larich to Fort William. Entering the survey area at NN 1950 61lO, inullediately to the south of the Aluminium works, the road runs through Kinlochleven, up to Mamore Lodge at NN 1860 6294 before turning to the west and running between the 220 and 250 m contours until it exits the survey area at NN 16lO 6340. A stretch of the road between NN j 61 0 6340 and 1680 63lO was examined in detail. In this 800 m stretch 17 culverts were recorded at rcgular intervals The road has been heavily revetted in several places to allow it to cross stcep ground and in one place (NN 16466322) a dam has been constructed to prevent flooding from a stream that crosses the road line. This dam measures 2.0 m in width, 7.0 m in length, stands up to 0.75 min 5 height and is orientated west - east (parallel with the road on its north side) inunediately to the east ofa small stream. Field Walking 7/3/1996, RCAHMS, NMRS, NN 16 SE 02. Ordnance Survey 1st Edition 6" Argyle Sheet XXXI 5 12/1 NN 15166194 30111 a.D. Building footing This oval enclosure measures 3.0 by 4.0 m and is orientated west - east. Surviving as a rough stone wall between 4 - 6 eourses high there is a possible entranee on the struetures east side. It is possible that this stmeture may be a shooting butt. Field Walking 6/3/1996 6 43/6 NN 17306178 10ma.D. Platform (Charcoal burniug?) Measuring 10.0 m north south and 11.0 m west - east this platform is revetted at its front (nOlthern) edge to a height of 2.0 m with a drystone faee; at the baek it is exeavated into the hill slope to a depth of0.75 m. Field Walking 8/3/1996 7 IOal3 NN 14686176 15 m a.D. Building Footing The remains of this reetilinear drystone structure measures 6.0 m west - east and 3.5 m north - south. There is no visible entranee nor any other features that indieates the purpose of this strueture. The presenee of several pieees of roughly eut slate suggests that the structure was roofed with slates. A south facing terraee runs for 5.0 111 from the southwest comer of the stmcture in a westerly direetion. Both the structure and the terrace stand to a height of less than 0.3 m. This stmcture is marked as disused on the first edition 6" map, and is probably the remains of a steading that is related to the cultivatable fields on the north side of Loch Leven centred at NN 1450 1660. Field Wal!dng 6/3/1996, Ordnance Survey lsI Edition 6", Argyle Sheet XXXI 8 43/5 NN 17336176 20-25 m O.D. Platform (Charcoal buming?) This sub rectangular platform measures 8.5 m by 5.0 m and is oriented north south on west facing slopes. This monument is cut into the slope to a depth of 2.0 m and is revetted on its front face to a height of 1.5 m. Field Walking 8/3/1996 9 lOa/4 NN 1464 6174 15 m O.D. ChartJlcl This square cut drainage or irrigation channel mns west - east for 25 m and is 2.0 m wide. This channel is part of a wider group of dry channels found at the north edge of cultivatable fields centred at NN 1450 1660. These drains appear to have been made to aid in drainage at time of flood. Field Walking 6/3/1996 10 43/4 NN 17296174 25 m O.D. Platform (Charcoal buming?) Measuring 8.0 m by 7.5 m this sub circular platform is revetted at its front edge with boulders to a height of 1.0 m and is excavated in to the hill slope to a depth of 0.5 m on its lip hill or southern edge.