Building record MHG54057 - Rose Cottage, Arisaig

Rose Cottage, to be affected by the construction of a link between the A830 and Quality Cottages, was recorded. The remains of the building sit in the centre of a roadside quarry.

The building footprint measured 6m by 3m and was aligned east west. No upstanding superstructure was preserved. It appeared to sit on a low platform of imported brownish orange gritty sand and had brick foundations. Set within these were piped services for sewerage and possibly fresh water. Surrounding the structure were deposits of topsoil and coal fragments, with site clearance revealing numerous bottles, jars, pieces of cast iron, cooking utensils, lumps of mortar, bricks and occasional slates. Occupying part of the area between these foundations and the roadside wall to the south was a deep (0.7m) deposit of large stones, lumps of mortar, slates and bricks, representing the products of demolition, and these overlay bedrock. The fragmentary remains of a mortared wall were crossed before a slab-lined gravel path led down to the roadside wall within which is a well made, orthostat defined, entrance. The surface consisted of concrete steps, one with a sunken centre, suitable for containing a metal grid, which may have served to clean footwear.

According to local memory, Rose Cottage was occupied by employees of Arisaig House, but had ceased by World War II.

Artefacts recovered from the excavations reinforce the impression that the remains date to the 19th and 20th centuries, with final abandonment in around 1945. <1>