Monument record MHG31716 - Possible Quay - Ascoile

Channel (possible quay).
The NW corner of a 4m line of large boulders, trending 1510 from here, defines the truncated upper limit of a 4m wide channel trending 2260, cut into a section of the lowest terrace on the E bank of Allt a’Mhuilinn (see Plate 10). The channel is 6m long from the later embankment boulder wall of Feature 049 (above) and drops SW to a depth of 2m below the terrace level to the river. The boggy, lowest levels of the channel are reed-filled and the side slopes are grass-covered, and its use is quite conjectural.

It may be that it is a ‘quay’ on the bank of the Allt a’Mhuilinn, which flows relatively gently across fairly level ground from here into the River Brora, just above the head of Loch Brora, allowing communications with Brora Harbour and the open sea beyond. If, as is suggested, it is associated with the bloomery site of Feature 046 (above), it could be the departure point for the export of the smelted metal, and/or the arrival site of imported ore. It is likely that the vast quantity of fuel needed to supply the smelting operations was the main determining factor in the location of the site, and it may be that the ore/raw material had to be imported and this was its unloading point. This is all fairly speculative, however, and more detailed investigation is needed to determine all of the related features of this complex area. <1>