Building record MAB27265 - AIKENSHILL

Farmstead, still in use, depicted on the 1st and 2nd edition OS maps.

Farmstead, still in use, depicted on the 1st and 2nd edition OS maps. The 1st edition OS map shows the house and the Improved steading, much of which survives although much altered. It is a U-plan steading with a narrower freestanding south range across the open end of the courtyard. A road runs along the south side of the south range with the L-plan house to the south of the road. A small freestanding building also lies to the south of the road, to the northwest of the house. By the 2nd edition map the buildings remain substantially the same but an additional small cottage has been built to the northeast of the house and south of the road between the house and steading. There is a sheepfold marked to the west of the steading. The 2006 map shows that the sheepfold has been removed, the courtyard has been roofed over and other buildings added to the east and south. A level 1 standing building survey was carried out the farm cottage, situated to the northeast of the farmhouse, in August 2012 by MAS in advance of its demolition. The cottage appears to have been built in the mid-late 19th century, but has recently been extended. In plan there is the original stone built cottage running east-west, with the bothy, or grieve's cottage, facing north towards the steading and with a blank south wall towards the farmhouse. A slightly lower block divided into two compartments appears to have been an early addition (pre-1899) on the east end. A breeze bock addition and toilet on the west end are of later 20th century construction. The main cottage had good horizontally coursed rubble with some granite blocks remaining at the corner rybats. Stones around the door and window openings of the north wall were generally smaller but appear to be original. The actual surrounds of the door and windows and the corners of the chimneys were of buff-coloured bricks. The use of some brick is less surprising as Tipperty Brick and Tile Works, some 4.5km to the north of Aikenshill, was in production from pre-1860 to 1980 and only a little further away Aberdeen had brickworks at Clayhills and Seaton from the 1770s onwards. The lower west end of the 19th-century block had similar stonework along the north wall, with no visible break in the foundation courses between the two ends of the building. However, the west gable of the block is in marked contrast to the rubble stone of the east gable or south walls of the original cottage, being constructed of larger squared blocks rather than rubble. This may however have been a deliberate intention to build a finer wall at the end nearest the farmhouse. The south walls of the west end have been rebuilt with concrete blocks and timber. The east block and the toilet are of harled concrete blocks. The west end of the building may have been a milk house, and contains a number of stone shelves which support this possible use.

MURRAY ARCHAEOLOGICAL SERVICES, 2012, AIKENSHILL, FOVERAN, ABERDEENSHIRE: STANDING BUILDING SURVEY (Bibliographic reference). SAB5007.

ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND, 2013, DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION IN SCOTLAND, NEW SERIES, VOLUME 13, 2012, p.18 (Bibliographic reference). SAB5487.

Record last edited

Jul 8 2020 3:41PM