Monument record MHG51547 - Site of possible slater's yard at Littleferry

A watching brief during ground-breaking works for a new house in June 2008 identified a surface of fragments of roofing slate lying below the bank of a storm beach. Three different types of slate were represented in the deposit: a course Ballachulish-type, a smooth thin slate of unknown type, and a Spanish slate. No complete slates were present and there were none with holes drilled for pegs. The deposit lay within the bounds of a former enclosure depicted on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map c.1874. The appearance of the fragments is most reminiscent of the debris from dressing slates. It is possible, therefore, that the site was formerly a slater's yard where some dressing of slates was carried out, however there is no record of this trade being carried out in Littleferry at this time. <1>

It is questionable whether the slate deposit does coincide with the enclosure discussed above. The GIS feature has been drawn to emcompass the approximate location of the enclosure and the deposit to the north. The slate deposit could possibly represent a dump of waste material from the putative slater's yard. <2>

A spread of re-deposited slate rubble and burnt coal/soot and cinders was noted during a watching brief in March 2011. See EHG3575 for full details. <3>