Field Survey...
At Bagh nam Feadag, the only features appearing on the first edition Ordnance Survey map are the field boundaries. Today, these field boundaries are mirrored by the present fence lines and presumably do not date to earlier than the eighteenth century. There is no record of any buildings in the Bagh nam Feadag area other than some recent concrete sheep folds at the western end of Loch Hornary. Undoubtedly further structures remain to be discovered in Grimsay.
Middens associated with the structures at Bagh nam Feadag are such a feature yet to be discovered which is surprising given that sites of a similar size and period have conspicuous deeply stratified middens immediately adjacent to the buildings. It has been commented elsewhere that an accumulation of midden material beside a settlement was symbolic of the stability and fertility of the farmed land (Sharples 1999, 57). In the case of Bornais in South Uist, a machair settlement, the accumulation of midden material created very distinctive tell-like mounds, possibly functioning as a stabiliser for the developing machair environment. Midden material would have been a crucial element for the enrichment of poor soils in both machair and moorland regions as they were prone to catastrophic collapse if mismanaged. At Bagh nam Feadag, due to its moorland environment, midden material would be not be required to stabilise insecure foundations and may have been spread directly over the fields. The only re-use of midden material that has been noted is in the packing material within the wheelhouse walls and piers, but is absent from all later structures.
Below are a selection of features found in the immediate vicinity of the grimsay wheelhouse.
(Click on images to launch viewer)
Middens associated with the structures at Bagh nam Feadag are such a feature yet to be discovered which is surprising given that sites of a similar size and period have conspicuous deeply stratified middens immediately adjacent to the buildings. It has been commented elsewhere that an accumulation of midden material beside a settlement was symbolic of the stability and fertility of the farmed land (Sharples 1999, 57). In the case of Bornais in South Uist, a machair settlement, the accumulation of midden material created very distinctive tell-like mounds, possibly functioning as a stabiliser for the developing machair environment. Midden material would have been a crucial element for the enrichment of poor soils in both machair and moorland regions as they were prone to catastrophic collapse if mismanaged. At Bagh nam Feadag, due to its moorland environment, midden material would be not be required to stabilise insecure foundations and may have been spread directly over the fields. The only re-use of midden material that has been noted is in the packing material within the wheelhouse walls and piers, but is absent from all later structures.
Below are a selection of features found in the immediate vicinity of the grimsay wheelhouse.
(Click on images to launch viewer)
Wheelhouse structure...
A visitor to Bagh nam Feadag today would instantly realise that there is far more to the site than a solitary wheelhouse built in the lee of a hill. The excavator in the course of his work exposed the majority of the remains, revealing at least five separate phases of construction. The level of preservation is excellent, as, although stone has been reused from earlier structures within the mound in subsequent phases, very little stone, if any, has been completely removed from the area, resulting in remains to at least foundation level for all the building phases and most with standing walls.
A detailed review of the wheelhouse and associated structures can be read here, or downloaded below:
grimsay_wheelhouse_-_structural_survey.pdf | |
File Size: | 1517 kb |
File Type: |
Below are a selection of photographs depciting the upstanding remains of the wheelhouse
(Click on images to launch viewer)
(Click on images to launch viewer)