Building record MAB21993 - PITTRICHIE

Remains of a farmstead, depicted on the 1st and 2nd edition OS maps.

Remains of a farmstead, depicted on the 1st and 2nd edition OS maps. Originally a single storey symmetrically laid out steading with a 2-storey pyramid roofed bothy at the centre of the east range and twin lean-to out-houses at the west side of the court. A level 2 standing building survey was carried out over the farmstead and nearby dovecot (NJ82NE0037) in June 2012 by Cameron Archaeology in advance of the proposed conversion of the buildings to form dwellinghouses. The survey describes the farm complex as consisting of a U-shaped steading with central tower containing domestic accommodation (named Building 1 in the survey). Small rooms form the fourth (west) side of the courtyard and there have been several additions and changes made to the use and plan of the buildings. A range of three (previously 4 and 5) rooms at the north is a separate building (Building 2). BUILDING 1: Building 1 consists of 10 rooms around a central courtyard. Rooms 4 and 5 form the north side of the courtyard. Room 4 is small with a large door on the north side. It has been partitioned off from the remainder of the building or this wing may have originally been constricted as a series of small rooms which have since been combined. Room 4 has a granite plinth in the southwest corner and this may have been the base for a water tank. The water may have been pumped from the well to the west of the complex and gravity fed into the building. Room 5 is a large room with doors to Room 4, a door to the courtyard, one to the north and two small slit windows facing north. Along the interior of the north wall is a stone and concrete foundation probably a foundation for feeding troughs for cows. In Room 5A wooden stalls for horses survive suggesting that this is a recent use of the room. The two small windows facing the north (and there is one in the south wall) are 70cm high and 30cm wide internally and 6cm wide externally. Windows of this type are not common on vernacular buildings but are common in castle and other defended buildings where they are known as loop-holes or arrow slits. On a building of this type they are for adding light and ventilation - there is one on the steading at Craignish Castle in Argyll and Bute which is of the more common cross-shape. The building is constructed of large blocks of dark grey granite with fieldstones. There are several areas of rebuilding and the height of the roof appears to have been raised by adding an extra course of stones to the top of the wall. The quoins on the corners of this building and the lintels are all of fine-grained light grey sandstone suggesting a high quality building. Bricks around both doors 5 and 7 indicate that they have probably been altered in size. On the south wall of Room 2 is a scar between the pink quartz-rich granite to the west and grey granite fieldstones to the east. This section of wall appears to have been added on to the main building and it is possible that this range was extended to the west or was repaired and rebuilt. Rooms 6, 7 and 8 form the east side of the range of buildings. Room 6 is the only domestic space identified during this survey. Unfortunately this room (and the one above) was inaccessible as the roof is collapsing but the features were recorded through the door and window. The windows and doors of this range have the same fine-grained grey sandstone lintels and quoins as the north wing. Room 6 has a wooden staircase to the room above and a fireplace in the northeast wall and the walls are plastered. An additional room (Room 7) has been added on to the east side of this room. It has granite quoins and lintels of a poorer quality than those of the main building. It is likely that this block was residential accommodation for farm workers, possibly the farm manager. Above the central door of Room 6 is a sandstone plaque with raised relief decoration. It shows a dexter arm holding a garland of laurel and the inscription INVIDOS VIRTUE TORQUEBO 1823. Some of the inscription including the date is difficult to read but the image is clear. This is the crest and motto of a branch of the Mackenzie family and may have been adopted by James William Mackenzie who succeeded his father as owner of the estate in 1816. Room 8 is now a long narrow barn but has had several alterations over the years. It was originally about 3m shorter and there is a wall stub where the original south wall of this room was located. It may originally have been shorter. This room originally had an upper floor and stubs of upper windows survive. A circular sunken area east of the building is the remains of a horse-gang or house mill which appears on the First and Second Edition Ordnance Survey maps. Apertures in the east wall survive where the mechanisms of the mill including the drive shaft and belts linking cog-wheels went through the wall into Room 8. The mill probably powered a threshing machine but no evidence of the internal mechanism survives as the room was cleared when it was extended and changed in use. On the south side of the courtyard are a series of three rooms 9, 10 and 11. They are constructed of pink quartz-rich granite blocks and these rooms have been butted onto the east wing. A scar shows the earlier black and dark grey granite structure and this later pink granite addition. The three rooms of this wing originally had two storeys and beam slots are present on the north walls of all three rooms. Room 9 was inaccessible due to the poor state of the roof but there is a small aperture in the north wall. The south wall of this room has been altered after construction and two arched coach doors added. These are at least 2m in height which is a common height for these doors. On the south wall of Room 11 there is a slit window similar to those on the north wall of Room 5. There are also windows to the courtyard from Rooms 10 and 11 and an original blocked door in the south wall of Room 11 and these rooms may originally have had a domestic use. Two small rooms (12 and 13) formed the west side of the courtyard, constructed of pink quartz-rich granite like the other rooms on that side of the courtyard. They are difficult to access and in poor condition, both leaning to the west. Room 13 has a door on both north and south walls and Room 12 just on the south side. Their interpretation is difficult but it may be that they housed grooms and other staff who would greet visitors to the house (who would have had to pass this building on the way to the main house). They may also have been used for storage and the spaces in between them are wide enough to allow carriages into the courtyard. It may also that they are part of an earlier structure which was then incorporated into the newer building and this might explain why they are in much poorer condition that several of the other buildings. BUILDING 2: North of the main steading are a group of three rooms in Building 2 (Rooms 1-3). The buildings are granite rubble and there is a door in the northeast end into the northeast room and a door into each of the other rooms in the southeast wall. There had originally been four rooms and there is a wall scar on the north wall where an internal partition wall has been removed. On the 2nd and 3rd Edition OS maps (1899-1924) there is another building attached to the southwest end and one on the northwest side although there is no evidence for these buildings on the ground or on the standing structure suggesting that they were temporary structures, possibly in wood or not actually attached to the stone structure. This indicates that there was a maximum of six rooms in this wing in the late 19th and early 20th century. The lack of fireplaces and windows in this range suggests an agricultural use.

Period Notes
1823 dated armorial plaque. Listed 11/09/1984.

CAMERON ARCHAEOLOGY, 2012, PITTRICHIE HOME FARM - LEVEL 2 STANDING BUILDINGS SURVEY, L2 SBS (Bibliographic reference). SAB5329.

ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND, 2013, DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION IN SCOTLAND, NEW SERIES, VOLUME 13, 2012, p.29 (Bibliographic reference). SAB5487.

Record last edited

Aug 16 2021 2:55PM