A Portuairk Satellite Settlement

A study of the OS 6" map surveyed in 1872 produced this little grouping of buildings (circled) just to the northeast of Portuairk.  RD is Rudh Dudh, a black house which, fully restored, can be rented from Steading Holidays, details here.  The buildings are no longer marked on the present OS maps and, having often walked the Sanna-Portuairk path, which passes close by the site, and not noticed them, we decided to investigate.

We approached the site from the Sanna side.  It was easy to locate from the deep ravine which we passed, which is clearly marked on the old OS map.  The immediate impression is that the area where the buildings stood is almost completely covered with dense thicket but, on descending to the bay, we quickly found what was probably the old well - marked on the photo with a yellow 'W'.

The first building we found was the most southwesterly on the map.  It is small, no more than 4m by 3m, with sturdy walls that still stand about a metre high, but it is now almost buried in bracken and brambles.

Once we had found the first, marked '1' in this picture, the buildings '2' and '3' followed quickly, all much the same size and in much the same state of decay.  Buildings '2' and '3' are right beside the Sanna-Portuairk path, where it turns left at the bottom of the hill, but so hidden that they are easily passed by anyone not searching for them.

The bay is not suitable for fishing boats.  There is little sign of any arable land close to the buildings, though there is some beside the burn.  It is difficult to imagine anyone living on this site, unless they were people from Portuairk who used the buildings as a shieling during the summer months while they herded animals to keep them away from the village fields where crops were being grown - although this seems unlikely as the houses are so close to the village.

The buildings are still there on the 1897 edition of the map, so they were in use for some time.  If people were obliged to live here all year, and subsist off what was available to hand, it must have been an unimaginably grim existence.

Map reproduced by kind permission of the National Library of Scotland.

The full map can be viewed here.