Monument record MHG583 - Township, Sron

The township is situated on a steep SE-facing slope on the NW side of the Abhainn a’ Ghlinne Ghil and the A 884 road to Lochaline. It was occupied at least by 1716 when seven men over the age of 16 resided at “Strone”. The “Plan of the farm of Claonlead” shows two houses and a small enclosure, accompanied by three small arable fields on the level ground within a loop of the river. Only one house was occupied in 1841 and, by 1851, the settlement had been abandoned.

Of the two unroofed buildings and enclosure, recorded in 1875, only one house and the northern end of the enclosure (Sites 4 and 5 on the sketch plan) survived the construction of the present A884 road to Lochaline in the 1960’s. However a series of buildings, previously unrecorded, stretches eastwards along the 100m contour as far as the Allt na Sroine. These may have been abandoned before the 1833 plan was drawn. They are enclosed by a turf and stone head dyke, Site 12, which runs between Allt na Sroine and an unnamed (and unmarked) stream further West, and covers an area 320m NE – SW by 100m as far as the present road. Other unrecorded structures may have been destroyed during the A884 road construction.

The buildings are all situated on a very steep slope, presumably to preserve the limited level ground below for cultivation. They were dug into the slope for depths of, for example, 0.80m at Site 10 and 1.40m at Site 8, and some, such as Site 8, have a basal layer of very large boulders on the SE downslope side. The buildings are mostly oriented NE-SW, along the contour, apart from Sites 4 and 10, which lie NW-SE on small level promontories. The buildings, 1, 4, 7, 8 and 10, presumably all houses, are round-angled rectangular in plan and constructed of coursed drystone masonry. They vary in length from 7.40m (House 10) to 10.20m (House 8). House 7 has mostly collapsed downhill but others survive to heights of 0.80m (House 4), 1.15m (House 10) and 1.70m (House 8) Entrances, where visible, face downhill to the SE or NE. Two structures, Sites 6 and 9, are defined by a single layer of large stones and boulders and a further structure, Site 11, consisting of a level platform, almost oval in plan and edged with boulders, may have been a stance for a turf or creel house.

A corn-drying kiln, Site 2, is situated at the W end of the settlement; it consists of a rectangular structure, 4.60m NE-SW by 4.10m, partly dug into the slope, in the centre of which is a stone-revetted conical bowl, measuring 1.55m in diameter at the top, 0.70m at the base and 1.10m deep. A flue opens through the SE sector. The small structure, Site 3, 1m to the SE, was presumably associated with the kiln.

A remnant of the early 19th century road, marked on estate maps and a precursor to the mid-19th century road recorded on the OS 1st Ed. Map of 1875, is visible at the NE end of the settlement. Two revetted embankments, up to 1.10m high, survive at NM 7436 5071 and 7439 5074.
Field Verification Report (West Lochaber) - J Robertson, 03/2004
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Early map sources - OS 2nd Edition 1900: LV (NW) & XLI (SW). Sron - remains of 1 structure and (?) field system.
See assoc. docs. file
J Aitken: 20/01/04.

NM75SW 7 741 505

(NM 743 505) Sron: Outlines of 2 houses occupied by 1755, abandoned by 1851.
P Gaskell 1968

Two unroofed buildings, one of which has an attached enclosure, are depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Argyllshire 1875, sheet lvi), but they are not shown on the current edition of the OS 1:10000 map (1974).
Information from RCAHMS (SAH) 20 May 1998