Monument record MHG4553 - Township, Stronetoper

NN89NW 2 849 965

Seven roofless buildings in two groups, situated on the W side of the River Feshie, are depicted on the current 1:10,000 OS map (c.1971).
Information from RCAHMS (PM) 5 January 1995.

What may be a single unroofed shieling-hut is depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Inverness-shire 1872, sheet ciii). Seven unroofed buildings are shown on the current edition of the OS 1:10000 map (1971).
Information from RCAHMS (AKK) 22 July 1996.

Two buildings and part of the head-dyke of Stronalia township were noted by J Wordsworth during a pre-afforestation survey (NMRS MS 961/2). The buildings, situated at NN 8490 9625, measure 12m by 5m and 10m by 5m externally with 0.8m thick walls.
J Wordsworth 1996; NMRS MS 961/2

NN 8490 9625 Stronalia. Two well-preserved longhouses 12 x 5m and 10 x 5m with walls 0.8m thick. Not shown on earlier OS maps.
NN 8495 9670 Stronalia. Low stone dyke, c 100m long surviving.
Sponsor: Wills Woodland Trust.
J Wordsworth 1997 <1>


Visited Saturday 16th June 2001. Weather - cold and overcast, threatening rain. The settlement is comprised of two groups of buildings situated on a river terrace, on the west bank of the River Feshie. Seven unroofed buildings, in two groups, are depicted on the current 1:25,000 OS map, but not on the !st edition map of 1872. The settlement appears on Roys military survey of 1750.

Northern group :-
Structure A - Lies on a slight mound on a north/south axis. The turf and stone footings rise to a height of roughly 0.5m and are about 1m thick. The walls are heather covered and the internal area is very dished, measuring ?. Possiblentrance in the west wall in its southern half, no evidence of internal partitions.
To the west of the structure there is a shallow depression and then an enclosure, both of which appear to be associated with the structure. The enclosure measures roughly 16metres square and the surrounding wall footings of turf and stone are very wasted rising only to a height of 0.1m or so in places. A heather covered stone wall stretches away from the SW corner of the structure towards the river in the east.

Structure B - A corn drying kiln and barn lies on an east/west axis. The kiln on the eastern downslope, is 2m in diameter and 0.8m deep whilst the barn measures 3m by 2.5m internally. The heather covered footings of the walls are very evident and rise to 0.5m, being 0.5m thick, there is much stonework and there appears to be an entrance in the northwest corner

Structure C - This ovoid shaped building, lies on an east/west axis and has an internal measurement of 7 x 3m, “tapering” at the east end to 2m. The wall footings are quite grossly covered with heather and rise to a height of 0.4 to 0.5m with a width of approx. 1m. There is evidence of an entrance in the eastern part of the north wall. What appears to be clearance stones have been deposited inside the structure.

Structure D - Lies on a north/south axis and has an internal measurement of 10m by 2m. There could be evidence of an internal partitions dividing the north end off. The heather covered footings of the walls rise to a height of 0.4m, and are 0.5 to 1m thick, the west wall being more complete. There could be an entrance in the centre of the west wall and another in the east wall towards the south end.

Structure E - Lies on a north/south axis, parallel and only 1m from structure D. Internal measurement 9 x 2m and divided into two compartments by an internal partition, the northern compartment is the most intact. The heather covered, turf and stone footings of the walls rise to 0.3 to 0.4m in height and are 0.5 to 1m thick. There is evidence of an entrance in the east wall of the north compartment. The wall footings of the south compartment are barely visible, rising to a height of 0.1m in places, no evidence of an entrance.

Southern group :-
Structure F - This rectangular structure with definite rounded corners lies on a north/south axis, on a terrace at a lower level to the other two structures in this group. The substantial turf and stone walls rise to 1m (W wall) in height and are 1m thick, there is a small entrance in the northern half of the west wall

Structure G - Lies on a east/west axis, on a higher terrace than the previous structure, and has an internal measurement of 8 x 3m. There are 2 compartments, the east being 5 x 3m and the west 2.5 x 3m. The substantial turf and stone walls are grass covered with some heather, rise to 0.3m (0.4m in places) and are 1m thick walls. The corners of the building are rounded and there is evidence of an entrance in the east end of the north wall.

Structure H - Lies to the south of structure G, on a north/south axis and has an internal measurement of 5 x 2.5m. The grass covered turf walls rise to a height of 0.5m and are 1m thick. The corners of the structure are rounded and there could be an entrance in the west wall

The following 2 structures are situated to the south on the west side of the road, at NN 8480 9660
Structure S - Rectangular building, the northmost of the two, on a north/south axis, measuring 9m x 2.5m internally. Wall footings to 0.4m height are quite wasted in parts and heavily heather covered. Appears to have rounded corners, no entrance evident

Structure T - Situated only 1.5m to the south of previous building. Rectangular, also on a north/south axis and measuring 10m x 2.5m internally. Walls more substantial, west rises to height of 0.8m east to 0.4m. Appears to have rounded corners, no entrance evident. Heather covered.

Photographs
North group -
1. General view from NW
2. Structure A from SW
3. Corn drying kiln B from WSW
4. Corn drying kiln B, east part, from N
5. Structure C from SW
6. Structure D from N.
7. Structure E from N
8. Structures E & D from north
South group - 9. Structure F from SW
10. Structure G from west
11. Structure H from south
12. Structure S from north
13. Structure T from west
Recorded by M. Marshall - June 2001 <2>

See Thumbnail Photo - showing general view of settlement from NW. M Marshall, 06/01.

Structures A, B, F, G and H as described in <2> above were recorded as part of a walkover survey in April 2010 in advance of electricity cabling works.

Site 4 (Structure A) comprised the remains of a rectangular drystone building with interior measurements 8m by 3m and walls 1.5 to 2.0 high and the remains of a drystone boundary wal 20m long by 1m wide, 0.75m high.
The heather-covered walls of the building (1-1.5m wide) were located one metre to the west of the proposed trench route. The building, aligned, N-S had a possible entrance on its west side and there was no evidence of internal partitioning. Wasted remains of a possible enclosure were located on the west side of the building and were difficult to identify in the high heather. A boundary wall, 20m in length, extended eastward from the south east corner of the building to the base of the river terrace and was located in the line of the proposed trench. The trench was re-routed to avoid the features.

A kiln and kiln barn (Site 5, Structure B above) was noted fifteen metres to the east of the building at the very edge of the river terrace. Both buildings and associated features were planned at 1:100.

Site 6 (Structure F) comprised the remains of a rectangular turf and drystone building, interior measurements 8m by 3m with walls 1.0-1.5m high. The structure, aligned N-S with an east-opening entrance, is comprised of turf-covered stone footings approximately 1m wide with a heather-covered interior showing no signs of internal partitioning (see Plan 2).
It is situated on grassy river terrace and the wasted remains of a curvilinear turf enclosure disappears northwestward
from north side of building at the base of the terrace.

Site 7 (Structure G) comprised the remains of a rectangular turf and drystone building, interior measurements 9m by 3m with walls 1.0-1.5m high. The heather-covered structure, aligned E-W with opposing north-south entrances, is comprised of 1m-wide turf-covered stone footings with one internal partition. It is situated on a grass- and heather-covered river terrace above the location of Site 6 and north of Site 8.

Site 8 (Structure H) comprised the remains of a rectangular turf and drystone building, interior 5m long by 2m wide, with walls 1.0m high. The heather-covered footings, aligned N-S, had no visible entrance and the heather- and turf-covered interior had no visible partition. It is situated on grass- and heather-covered river terrace above the location of Site 6
and south of Site 7. <3>

This site was visited during a walkover survey in March and April 2011. See the linked event (EHG3560) to download the survey report. <4><5>