Monument record MHG49948 - Kinlochewe Lodge

NMRS Report: (20/10/2006 09:42:48)
NH06SW 23 NH 030 619

Evaluation; excavation NH 030 619 to NH 064 594 In June and July 2005, a series of archaeological features were investigated that would be disturbed or destroyed by the upgrading of the A832 between Glen Docherty Viewpoint and Kinlochewe. A baseline study had been prepared in 2001, and updated in 2003 (DES 2004, 73). The features investigated comprised numerous field banks and/or walls, an old building near Glen Docherty, a possible levee with attached scoops, and a kiln site with a nearby hollow. Several other sites were subject to photographic and GPS survey. The excavations dismissed a possible bloomery mound site as being entirely natural.
A kiln site near Kinlochewe (NH 0367 6182) was one of the more significant finds. It lay close to the existing A832 on a slight slope adjacent to a small burn. A circular hollow, 4.8 x 4.3m by a maximum depth of 0.7m, was recorded next to the kiln. The excavations revealed the kiln to be of stone wall construction and measuring 2.1 x 1.8m and 1.4m high, though no evidence was found of its function. The adjacent hollow contained a layer of charcoal across its base. The function of the hollow was not revealed, though it may have been used to hold the burnt remains from the kiln.
The site of a possible levee and scoops was investigated, lying close to the Glen Docherty Burn (NH 0577 6017). The excavations revealed the levee to be natural. Two scoops were identified during the investigation, though only one of them was shown to be anthropogenic in origin, containing a thick layer of charcoal across its base, measuring 3.7 x 2.5m and 0.5m deep. It is suggested that this was a charcoal-burning site, based on the remains found within the scoop, the proximity of the site to the burn and the location of a bloomery site close by.
Report lodged with Highland SMR and NMRS.
Sponsor: Highland Council, Transport, Environmental and Community Services.
S Badger 2005