Documents

Where documents include maps, the use of this data is subject to terms and conditions (https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/termsandconditions).

The legal document available for download below constitutes the formal designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The additional details provided on this page are provided for information purposes only and do not form part of the designation. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within this additional information.

• Type

  Legal Documents

  Title

  SM4389_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600010306)

Summary

Description

The monument comprises an ironworks, built before 1608 by Sir George Hay of Kinfauns, Earl of Kinnoull. It is very probably the first charcoal-fired blast furnace built in Scotland. It smelted iron ores imported from central Scotland with locally-made charcoal. The finished product (pig iron and possibly cast-iron cannon) was shipped straight to markets in the south. The ironworks was probably in blast for at least 50 years.

The ironworks, on the low-lying ground beside the River Ewe, includes the remains of a stone-built furnace-stack, with the blowing house, casting-house and wheel pit adjacent. The lade runs down the east side; this is now a dry channel. There is a slag-heap on the north. All these features, save for a part of the furnace-stack, are beneath the grass cover.

There may be other working surfaces (perhaps a forge) in the area to the north of the stack, beyond the slag heap. On the high ground to the east, above and beyond the lade, there is evidence for the existence of storage sheds for charcoal and ore. They would appear to have been constructed of timber or turf, not stone.

Statement of National Importance

The monument is of national importance as an early, well preserved and complete field monument of the industrial period. It is of national importance because the evidence in it is crucial to our understanding of iron working in Scotland. Its importance is enhanced by the proximity of an advanced bloomery and Fasagh, also on Loch Maree. It will encapsulate the reasons for cessation of iron working in NW Scotland and this aspect of its importance is not neglible.

References

Bibliography

About Scheduled Monuments

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Scheduling is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for monuments and archaeological sites of national importance as set out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.

We schedule sites and monuments that are found to be of national importance using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Scheduled monument records provide an indication of the national importance of the scheduled monument which has been identified by the description and map. The description and map (see ‘legal documents’ above) showing the scheduled area is the designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The statement of national importance and additional information provided are supplementary and provided for general information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within the statement of national importance or additional information. These records are not definitive historical or archaeological accounts or a complete description of the monument(s).

The format of scheduled monument records has changed over time. Earlier records will usually be brief. Some information will not have been recorded and the map will not be to current standards. Even if what is described and what is mapped has changed, the monument is still scheduled.

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Find out more about scheduling and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.