The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

Saverock

Ancient Village / Settlement / Misc. Earthwork

Fieldnotes

Went further down the Burn of Hatston (which flows over bedrock throughout its length) and found more water furniture where it greets the sea (HY43511300). Here the burn is ?deeper/wider and is bridged by two immense slabs (the nearer 2.2x0.4x0.25m, the furthest 2.5x0.8x0.3m ) with a reasonable 2.8m gap in between . On the right-hand side a lovely white drystane wall lines the burn but on the other side there is nothing but a few sandy stones in the bank until the bridge is reached (though a finger of sod and earth about the height of the wall projects out into the burn from it). Passing strange. The remains of a few large timbers can be seen betwixt and between the slabs and the bridge is wall-lined either side. Couldn't get past the barb-wire fence to view it from the shore, and though the waters were low enough to walk under the bridge I could not risk slipping on the bedrock as I was on my own. It is 0.9m between the bridge walls, they are 1m high but the bedrock that the bridge sits on accounts for 0.2m of that on the left.
All told I wonder if this is the remains of a sea-wall sluice, grander and in better preservation than the one downstream of Tankerness Mill. In which case maybe the 'structure' upstream here is what Click Mill looked like before it was rebuilt in the 19th century ?? Which, unfortunately, though it further confirms the importance of the Burn of Hatston area would put the burnside furniture outwith TMA's remit. But a later visit shows the main body of the bridge precedes the possibly early industrial features.
wideford Posted by wideford
24th June 2004ce
Edited 12th October 2004ce

Comments (0)

You must be logged in to add a comment