2010

NS4582 : Oval pit near old farmstead

taken 14 years ago, 3 km from Blairquhomrie, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland

Oval pit near old farmstead
Oval pit near old farmstead
See NS4582 : The remains of Aridow for the main description of a farmstead whose buildings were located about 120 metres to the north, and which was possibly associated with this pit.

The pit itself fills the width of this photograph, and is oval in shape, with its long axis oriented north-south, parallel to the contour lines of the slope; in that direction, it measures about 16 metres across. On the interior of its uphill (eastern) side, a semicircular wall of rock is exposed. The pit is open on its downhill side. See NS4582 : Oval pit near old farmstead for a view across it in the opposite direction.

When I approached the pit from the NE, only its lip was visible, and I imagined that it might be a bomb crater; however, the appearance of its interior suggests otherwise.

In March of 2009, I had encountered a similar pit (NS3678 : Pit from former limestone quarrying) in the vicinity of NS3678 : Former cornstone workings on Carman Muir; the pit in the present photograph may likewise be a remnant of limestone quarrying. Leading northwards from here, for a distance of about 35 metres, the ground is depressed as though there has been much traffic between the pit and the corner of a field dyke leading from the farmstead (specifically, to where that dyke turns from heading southwards to head WNW; see NS4582 : Remains of Aridow: field dyke). However, there is a gate in a modern fence at that point, so some or all of that disturbance may be relatively recent.

The pit was perhaps associated with the farmstead; indirect evidence from old maps (see the link in the end-note) suggests that the latter became derelict before the middle of the eighteenth century.

Background details: near the left-hand edge of the photo, the ridge of Conic Hill (NS4292) is visible, with Beinn Bhreac (NS4296) behind it. Gualann (NS4594) is placed centrally on the skyline. Ben Ledi (NN5609) is prominent near the right-hand edge of the photo, flanked on the left and right, respectively, by two more distant peaks, Benvane (NN5313) and Stùc a' Chroin (NN6117).
The remains of Aridow

This long-gone farmstead is shown but not named on Roy's Military Survey of Scotland — LinkExternal link (1740s—50s). An estate plan — LinkExternal link — dating from 1792 identifies it as Aridow, and it names another vanished farmstead nearby as Knockour (discussed at length below).

A 1777 "Map of the Shire of Dumbarton" — LinkExternal link — calls the farms Aridu and Knocknagour. Neither one appears on even the earliest OS maps (c.1860); even then, their traces must have been faint. The scale of the 1777 map and Roy's earlier map makes them quite unsuitable for determining the locations of the farms; the 1792 estate plan, in contrast, allows them to be located to within 50 metres or so.

THE PLACE-NAMES:

Roy's map shows "Knockingour". This form, like the other of the two longer spellings, "Knocknagour", indicates that it was almost certainly the "hillock of the goat" (Gaelic "cnoc" + "gobhar").

Aridow/Aridu (not named on Roy's map) was most probably the "black shieling" (Gaelic "airidh" + "dubh").

THE REMAINS OF KNOCKOUR:

As already mentioned, the eighteenth-century estate plan shows a second lost farmstead nearby, called Knockour (with longer spellings Knockingour and Knocknagour). An enclosure centred on c.NS45168264 closely corresponds to the position of Knockour that can be inferred from the estate plan.

The subrectangular (i.e., almost rectangular, but with some rounded corners) enclosure measures about 24m×22m, with its longer axis oriented east-west (more precisely, ENE—WSW). An additional strip about 8 metres wide runs along its entire western side, forming a sort of small annexe (see below), separated by a dividing line from the main body of the enclosure.

The enclosure as a whole is not very amenable to photography (which is why Knockour's description has been subsumed here under the description of nearby Aridow), but its outline can be followed quite easily when there in person. Google Earth's satellite imagery generally shows it indistinctly, but, using its "historical imagery" function, a dataset from 1/2005 can be loaded, in which the sun was at a remarkably low elevation above the horizon. The enclosure is obvious, if rather blurry, in those images. Other datasets show it in better focus, but much less conspicuously, the sun then being higher.

What is evident when approaching the site, in person, from downhill (i.e., from the north) is that the enclosure occupies an area that is much more level than the slopes around it. Inside, the most noticeable feature on the ground is the dividing line between the main enclosure and the 8-metre-wide rectangular strip that forms an annexe on the west; not only is the dividing line apparent as a very straight and obvious line of rushes, but there is a clear change in height there, with the annexe being lower than the main body of the enclosure.

If Knockour's farm buildings were attached directly to this enclosure, as seems likely, then they would almost certainly have stood on the flat area adjacent to the enclosure's southern side (which is the uphill side): the ground falls away too steeply on the northern (downhill) side, the annexe on the west has not the appearance of a former building, and there are no traces of structures at all along the eastern side.

In that connection, it is worth noting that the eastern and western sides of the main enclosure project a few metres beyond the enclosure's southern wall, and then make a 90° turn; nestled within those projecting parts, at each end of the southern wall, are signs of smaller structures. For example, at the eastern end of the enclosure's south wall are the traces of a structure that measures about 5 metres by 3 metres, with some stone exposed in its low footings. Very similar traces of a structure are to be seen at the other (the western) end of the south wall. It is possible that these structures are merely the relics of a longer line of buildings.


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Lairich Rig and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Historic sites and artefacts Former: Quarry Place: Gallangad Muir Landmark: Ben Ledi Category: Quarry other tags: Archaeology Click a tag, to view other nearby images.
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NS4582, 39 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Lairich Rig   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Friday, 14 May, 2010   (more nearby)
Submitted
Friday, 21 May, 2010
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NS 4527 8202 [10m precision]
WGS84: 56:0.3644N 4:28.9868W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NS 4527 8201
View Direction
NORTH (about 0 degrees)
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SW S SE
Image classification(about): Geograph
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