Despite the atrocious weather, a team from Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology (ORCA) and 9 participants undertook a walkover survey around the Hall of Clestrain on the 13th October 2018.

The aims were to record sites that relate specifically to the house, and sites from other periods, in order to put the house into a wider context.

Archaeological walkover surveys are used to record earthworks and structures in the landscape using basic techniques: a written, sketch drawn and photographic record, along with recording the location of sites with hand-held GPS. Participants were trained in basic techniques of field recognition and recording. 

The survey covered the walled garden, the area around the house and the trackway to the road, recording sites from all periods. The site of a nearby prehistoric standing stone and hut circle were also visited. In total, 17 sites were recorded. Within the walled garden, landscape garden features were recorded: a mound, pathways, pond and old trees.

The garden wall itself is very high with decorative recesses. Just to the north, outside the garden, a large earthwork with a knocking stone could relate to an earlier phase of farm buildings. Along the trackway to the east, a World War II search light emplacement was recorded. The walled garden would have been in use during the time of John Rae’s childhood. The range of sites recorded during the survey demonstrate the rich history of the Hall of Clestrain area. 

​Future work could record some of the walkover sites in more detail and conduct geophysical survey to further characterise the garden, potential former farm buildings and prehistoric sites. 

Participants commented.............‘For me, the most interesting part of the course was seeing the approach taken to initially survey the land. It really gets you thinking more about what could be under your feet and begin to think outside the box more.’

‘Very clear explanation with follow-up and support on the ground’

‘I did not really know what to expect before arriving and was unsure whether or not I would be of any use, but it was fantastic.’

‘Really useful to learn more about GPS and methods of landscape recording’
‘A really useful day. Many thanks for arranging it.’

‘I look forward to participating in future events and learning more!’

For more information on the John Rae Society see their website.

Join the ORCA team working with The John Rae Society on a series of archaeology activities to explore and record the Hall of Clestrain and surrounding gardens - the home of John Rae in Orkney.

The programme starts on Saturday 13th October with a day of community walkover survey of the walled gardens with the aim of tracing features from old maps and recording structures and earthworks on the ground.

Participants will be trained in basic field recognition and survey of the built heritage. The archaeological works around the hall aim to place Clestrain in a wider context and explore the history and development of this important building. 

Dan Lee said 'ORCA are excited to work with The John Rae Society on this important project, to explore, research and restore one of Orkney's most iconic buildings, starting with a community training event’. 

If you want to join the team working on this exciting community archaeology project then drop us a line on enquiries.orca@uhi.ac.uk

Booking is essential as there are limited places available for training. Please do come for the day or just an hour. You are also welcome to come and visit us during the day. Trustees and archaeologists from Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology will be there to talk to you about the project.

No previous experience of archaeology is needed, but if you join us then bring a packed lunch, waterproofs and sturdy boots.

The John Rae Society is based in Stromness, Orkney. It is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO), registered in Scotland and the Registered Charity Number is SC044463.

Its purposes are :

1. To advance the education of the public in the life and achievements of John Rae as the discoverer of the final navigable link of the Northwest Passage and one of the greatest arctic explorers.
2. To advance the arts, heritage, culture and science by promoting the life and achievements of John Rae
3. To foster friendship and understanding between members of the public, the people of Orkney, and those in Canada, particularly, but not exclusively, those areas associated with John Rae, through a broad range of activities.

For more information on the John Rae Society see their website  

The community around Thurso were invited to take part in the latest archaeology event in the Caithness Broch Festival last week in which a team were trained in basic archaeological techniques by archaeologists from Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology (ORCA) and the University of the Highlands and Islands.

Over 40 people attended the event organised by Caithness Broch Project and experienced ‘hands on archaeology’ in a series of trial trenches at Thusater Burn near Thurso in the North of Scotland.

In fact, so many people turned up that an additional trench had to be opened. This trench was soon commandeered by the children of the volunteers who under supervision from the ORCA team started to develop their excavation skills at a pace!

All three excavated trenches soon revealed archaeological features consistent with that anticipated by a previous geophysical survey conducted by the ORCA team several weeks ago. Rubble and stony deposits containing cultural material were encountered, although perhaps the most exciting structural find was a perfectly preserved hearth constructed of orthostats, a base slab and packing stones.

Under the blazing sun, the team’s hard work was rewarded by finding a hammer stone and possible striking stone used for starting fires and a wonderfully preserved pigs tooth. The latter find is usually associated with high status sites.

The investigation raised the possibility of the mound containing prehistoric structural remains although more research is needed to confirm their extent and the actual period of occupation. The hearth, together with the finds point to domestic use – perhaps a ‘wag’ or, even more excitingly for the Caithness Broch Project, the remains of a broch.

Pete Higgins, Senior Project Manager ORCA, said, ” It is incredibly exciting to be involved with the team from Caithness Broch Project and local people investigating this site, especially as this is the first time that it has been excavated. This is the first stage of a project which aims to investigate the wider prehistoric landscape of this area of northern Scotland and ultimately help provide the community with the tools to boost tourism in the area.”

Caithness Broch Project member Kenneth McElroy added, "The dig was a really exciting community event - I was especially pleased to see that for many of the volunteers this was their first experience of an archaeological dig.It was a superb few days and we'd love to come back and try and find out a bit more about the site!"

The Caithness Broch Festival Archaeology Programme aims to provide CBP members and the general public with training in field-walking, geophysical survey and excavation within Caithness. These will develop skills in project set-up, survey, field-walking, finds recognition, finds cataloguing, GIS and reporting, as well as basic excavation techniques.
The result of these activities will be to form a skilled and engaged group that can develop and sustain archaeological projects within the county. Participants will contribute to the wider understand of these sites and landscapes and present the results.

The Archaeology Programme also presents an opportunity to stimulate tourist interest in the region by providing events which can be publicised and promoted in order to draw in higher numbers of visitors. Tourism could also add to the funding opportunities through visitor donations to, and additional memberships of, the Caithness Broch Project.

​Thanks to the following for supporting the project:

The team from Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology entered week two of the Papa Westray community archaeology project with the sun shining and the wind dropping to a moderate gale force. 

Back on the island, Frank Forrester, our placement student from the University of Bradford, continues the story of the project..........

"Arriving on Papa for my second week, we only had one final site to complete: St.Boniface/ Munkerhoose. One of the aims of the project was to place St. Boniface in context within its wider landscape. This meant in practice completing an survey of the fields surrounding the site in order to produce a topographical survey. This involved a walk over the land using a GPS, measuring the height of  of the land."

Frank continues, "Following instruction from the ORCA team I soon found that it was important to cover all of the site systematically, which was best done by simply walking back and fore, in the same spacing. I ran a tape measure out on one side of the field, and another in line at the opposite end - giving me a line to walk. My thanks must go to Rick who taught me how to work the GPS and set me off to work walking up and down three fields."

Finally, "Adding the modern structures that are on the land was also important as it helps to tie in the topographic survey to the coastal survey and the OS maps. This is done by taking key points of the structures, such as corners and changes in wall lines.

However, this surveying was fairly challenging as gale force winds would blow me off course. This was all worth it though, as the topographic map that has been produced through my surveying gives a great representation of the area."

Thanks to Frank for taking the time to write about his experiences on the Papa Westray project. 

University of of Bradford work placement student Frank Forrester continues the story.....​​"On the  third day we were back working at Kings Craig/Whitehowe, completing more surveying work. This included a photo record of the site, highlighting its current state, and tying in the samples taken and key features. We also found a bone pin, which was literally poking out of the section. This was a very exciting find because it adds to the artefact record and provides an insight into the culture of the people that once lived at the site. A detailed analysis back at the University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute Institute will confirm its age and type of animal bone.

The week had one final card to deal Frank.....the weather was progressively getting worse as the week progressed. Howling wind mixed with snow, sleet and rain hammered against the windows of the departure lounge on Papa Westray as he waited for his flight home. Can you imagine his delight as he saw the small plane start to approach the airstrip, only to be cruelly dashed as the pilot judged it too dangerous to land and flew back to Kirkwall. Frank was left marooned on the island for another night, but it did give him the opportunity to enjoy the hospitality of Papa Westray for a little while longer.

"I arrived at Papa Westry airport at midday, before being picked up by my two colleagues and driving to our first site, Cott/Shorehouse. This site has a series of exposed structures jutting from the coastal section, under a mound that is visible from the surface above. The costal section has a heavy mixture of modern material, as it is situated next to a farm. I was put to work sketching the section, so that it can be used to better understand the site for the writing up of the report. Afterwards I worked with community volunteers to collect some samples that were prominent within the section.

​This is important because hopefully we can use these samples to obtain dates from the site, which will give us a greater understanding of the age of the Cott/Shorehouse site. Rick later surveyed in these samples once they were tagged so they could be related to the survey. "

Frank continues,"On our second day we moved onto the second site, Kings Craig/Whitehowe. This site has a deep coastal section ranging from 1 to 5m deep, with the deepest section being below the current Whitehowe farmstead. The archaeology that is visible, ranges from the glacial till at the bottom, through shell middens, agricultural soils to possible Norse structures. The majority of the site was too high for us to be able to take samples and some were covered by pushed over soil. However, from the sections that were accessible we were able to take samples, with volunteer help, which will help give us a better idea for dating the site."

Check out the next blog post for Days 3, 4 and 5 .....when some exciting finds began to be unearthed.

The project was funded by Historic Environment Scotland. 

A team from Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology and the University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute will be on Papa Westray during March 2018, recording the current state of some of the archaeological sites being eroded by the sea.

Volunteers from the community are invited to take part in surveying and recording training at three eroding coastal sites across the island, starting with a workshop on 3rd March at Cott/Shorehouse.

• 3rd, 4th and 5th March 2018, starting at Cott/Shorehouse at 10am. 
• 6th, 7th and 8th March at Munkerhoose at 10am.
• 13th-15th March at Whitehowe.

 
All are welcome and you do not need archaeology experience to take part. There is no charge for the sessions and you will have the opportunity to learn some basic archaeological techniques.

Wear stout boots and wet weather gear, just in case the weather closes in and bring a packed lunch if you wish to stay for the whole session.

Contact Paul Sharman on paul.sharman@uhi.ac.uk for more information.

​​The project is funded by Historic Environment Scotland.