Monument record MHG28301 - Balclaggan

NC70SW 131 7349 0438

These three farmsteads, which are disposed over a distance of 150m from N to S, have replaced the former township of Balclaggan.
The northernmost steading (NC 7349 04380) comprises a long, gabled building and a two-compartment building, both set into the slope on the W. The N building (ROG95 834) measures 15.3m from WNW to ESE by 4.1m transversely within faced-rubble walls 0.7m thick and 1.5m high with an outshot 8.7m long on the WNW. There are blocked, slit windows and a blocked entrance on the NNE, but the entrance in the ESE is open; the outshot has two entrances. The S building (ROG95 835) measures 13m from NNE to SSW by 5.2m transversely over faced-rubble walls, 0.7m thick and 1.2m high, with an entrance in the ESE.
The building at the middle farmstead (NC 7347 0431, ROG95 836) measures 8.1m from NW to SE by 4.4m transversely within roughly-coursed, rubble walls, 0.8m thick and 1.6m high, with an central entrance in the NE. Two rear windows are visible.
The building at the southernmost farmstead, which is overgrown with gorse, measures 6.6m from NE to SW by 3.1m transversely within faced-rubble walls, 0.8m thick and up to 0.8m high, with an entrance in the SE (NC 7344 0424, ROG95 837).
All four buildings are depicted as roofed on the 1st and 2nd edition of the OS 6-inch maps (Sutherlandshire 1879 and 1907, sheet civ). One unroofed building attached to an enclosure is shown on the 1st edition but was not located during the field-survey. The township or farm of Balclaggan appears in the rentals of the Sutherland Estate from 1792, when there was one tenant; four tenants are recorded in 1807 and five in 1817 (NLS Dep. 313/2120, 2129, 2157). The township is depicted on the estate map of Rogart in 1811 (NLS Dep. 313/3591/2) with five buildings and two enclosures.
(ROG95 834-837)
Visited by RCAHMS (PJD) 4 July 1995