Morness, Rogart, Sutherland Looking SE towards the southern section of the site, from the northern section A Report on an Archaeological Walk-Over Survey Prepared for Mark Banham Nick Lindsay B.Sc, Ph.D Tel: 01408 621338 Sunnybrae West Clyne e-mail: [email protected] Brora Sutherland April 2012 KW9 6NH Morness, Rogart, Sutherland Contents 1.0 Executive Summary .............................................................................................................. 2 2.0 Introduction........................................................................................................................... 3 2.1 Background ....................................................................................................................... 3 2.2 Objectives ......................................................................................................................... 3 2.3 Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 3 2.4 Limitations ........................................................................................................................ 3 2.5 Setting ............................................................................................................................... 3 3.0 Results .................................................................................................................................. 5 3.1 Desk-Based Assessment .................................................................................................... 5 3.2 Field Survey .................................................................................................................... 16 4.0 Conclusions......................................................................................................................... 20 5.0 Recommendations ............................................................................................................... 21 References ................................................................................................................................ 22 Appendices ............................................................................................................................... 23 1 Morness, Rogart, Sutherland 1.0 Executive Summary An archaeological desk-based study and subsequent walk-over survey of an area to the north west of Croft 287 Morness, Rogart, to the north west of the village of Pittentrail in East Sutherland, was undertaken in March 2012. The survey was required by Mr Sandy Sutherland to establish the extent of archaeological remains, which would, in turn, determine the viability of planting trees. The survey area is split into two separate compartments comprising parts of the steep north east sides of the Torbreck Burn valley and the gently undulating hill ground above. The site is accessed from a hill track leading from the end of the public road Croft 287 Morness (see Appendix I). The survey resulted in the recording of 18 archaeological features, 8 of which had previously been recorded on the Highland Council Archaeology Unit’s Historic Environment Record (HER). 2 Morness, Rogart, Sutherland 2.0 Introduction 2.1 Background Mr Sandy Sutherland, of 287 Morness, proposes to plant trees to the north west of his croft in the parish of Rogart. Prior to this, through his agent, Mr Mark Banham, he commissioned a desk- based assessment and subsequent walk-over survey to record and survey any archaeological remains present in the area and assess the impact which the proposal may have on the archaeology. 2.2 Objectives The objectives of this survey were to: • Identify the cultural heritage baseline within the proposal area. • Consider the potential impacts of the proposed development on the cultural heritage resource. • Propose measures (where appropriate) to mitigate any predicted adverse impacts. 2.3 Methodology A desk-based study was made of the Highland Council’s HER, in conjunction with many specific and relevant references held locally in Sutherland, in order to identify any known and/or visible archaeology. Google Earth was also consulted prior to the walkover survey to get an overview of any likely archaeology to be encountered. The subsequent walkover survey used the most recent Ordnance Survey maps and a hand-held Garmin GPS unit was used for GPS co-ordinates, and a pocket compass clinometer was used for 3600 whole circle bearings and slope gradients. 2.4 Limitations The site was found to be open, and vegetated partly by heather (some deep and thick) and grass, with occasional bracken, so limitations to finding archaeology on the ground were few, except in the areas of thick heather. It has to be borne in mind, however, that archaeology may also still lie concealed beneath the surface. GPS co-ordinates are found to differ from Ordnance Survey National Grid co-ordinates generally by around 10m (can be up to 18m) to the SSW. This may pose local problems when relating recorded features to large-scale OS maps. GPS accuracy is wholly determined by the ability to access available satellites by line of sight. This ability can be reduced by proximity to hillsides and valley-sides and also by tree cover. 2.5 Setting The area identified for this proposal covers two separate sections of rough hill ground, to the north west of Morness. The smaller, southern section is 750m from the croft and the larger, northern section is 1.5km from the croft. The area of the southern section is 8.15 hectares (20.3 3 Morness, Rogart, Sutherland acres) and it extends in a NW-SE direction along the east side of the Torbreck Burn, measuring approximately 600m x 200m. The area of the northern section is 15.39 hectares (37.8 acres) and it also extends in a NW-SE direction along the east side of the Torbreck Burn, measuring approximately 1100m x 200m. The majority of the site is covered with heather and grass, resting on peat and glacial boulder clay, with a few sporadic outcrops of granite. The survey area rises steeply from the Torbreck Burn and levels out on the crest of the hill. The whole of both of the sections are unimproved and has been used for sheep grazing. No sign of sheep occurs now, but cattle still graze the northern section. The area is not now habited, although map evidence suggests that there has been a long-lived human habitation history in the wider area, from the Neolithic, through the Bronze/Iron Age to the Post-Clearance era, after which the site would have been used for agriculture. 4 Morness, Rogart, Sutherland 3.0 Results 3.1 Desk-Based Assessment 3.1.1 Historic Environment Record Initial consultation of the Highland Council Archaeology Unit’s Historic Environment Record (HER) showed that there are two recorded sites within the southern survey area and four in the northern survey area. Adjacent to the survey areas and also in the wider area, there are many other recorded hut circles (associated with the Bronze/Iron Age) and Pre-Clearance township dwellings and associated structures. The nearest Scheduled Ancient Monument is the Achnagarron hut circles site, approximately 2.7km to the east south east. The presence of these hut circles, together with the other recorded ancient monuments dating back as far as the Neolithic in the surrounding district, show that the area has a long lived and rich history. Early colonisers would have grown subsistence crops on the valley sides and flat valley floor. They would have hunted on the hillsides and fished in the rivers and lochs and it clearly shows that several communities would have been able to sustain an existence here. 3.1.2 Maps For the southern area, the current Ordnance Survey map depicts two hut circles and two unroofed buildings at the southern end and a boundary feature extending westwards from the buildings to the Torbreck Burn, then running parallel on its east bank. There are no features of any description depicted within the northern survey area. Investigation into maps of earlier origins, from William Roy’s Military Survey of Scotland, of 1747-55 (Map Extract 1, below) reveals a little more. The Torbreck Burn (and the Braes of Moriness) is lined with settlements on both its sides of the burn, the highest of which is Torbrak Moriness. Associated with each township can be seen the depiction of the traditional rig and furrow cultivation system of the day. Map Extract 1 – Roy (1747-55) 5 Morness, Rogart, Sutherland Subsequent surveyors, Forbes (1820), Thomson (1832) and Burnett & Scott’s (1853), depict nothing further upstream of just south of the southern survey area. This is quite unusual, especially for the latter surveyors, as their depiction of even the smallest settlements is accurate. It is probably an indication of the settlements which are dotted around the landscape in the vicinity of the survey areas having been cleared to make way for the sheep farmers from the south, who would take over the land (see 3.1.3, below). The Ordnance Survey 1:10,000 scale 1st Edition map (Map Extract 2, below), published in 1879 (surveyed in 1872), names Allt an Torra Bhric as the Torbreck Burn and the township of A’Bhuaile-fhraoich, just skirting, but mainly outwith the northern survey area. The township is still depicted, but not named, on the current Ordnance Survey edition. 3.1.3 Documentary Evidence The place name Torbreck is Gaelic for ‘Speckled Rock’, which is appropriate as the hills above the Torbreck Burn are littered with glacial boulders and rocks. Morness is Gaelic for ‘Big Point (headland)’.