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The Hall of Dowager Lady Torphichen
(Oldhall)
Netherton Farm Woodland
North Lanarkshire
Canmore
Archaeology Index
e-mail Rosie
Looking westwards
over the hall to the colliery site (Top left) © Jim
Knowles 26
February 2011
(~1.5 miles directly south of
site 2)
Situated north of Netherton Farm (Nether Town of Blairmuckhill) on the
trackway leading to Southrigg Farm
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The County of Lanark
from actual survey by William Forrest
1816 (cf Forrest
1818)
James Sandilands, 9th Lord
Torphichen died in 1815 leaving his wife Anne, daughter of Sir John Inglis
(4th Bart of
Cramond), as the Dowager Lady Torphichen of Cramond and
Harthill. |
Aerial photo
First visit 6th October 2008
Looking ~ north east towards the site
The site from above. Poor lighting -
overcast and raining (^ North)
KAP
Power sled 36 kite / Fuji F100fd,
29mm equiv., ISO 400, Sports setting giving f3.3, 1/320sec.
We will return when winter has cut back the
ground cover
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Looking east from the site towards
Southrigg Farm |
Looking west from the site |
Second visit 18th March 2009
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| Ground cover still
obscuring detail
Larger version
KAP The three white dots
to the right of John are 2.5 metres apart
Power sled 24 kite / Pentax Optio W60,
28mm equiv., ISO 400, Sports setting, giving f4.2 at 1/1250th sec. |
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Ground Resistance Survey
19 September 2010.
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The above feature together with
approximately 13 metres of ground on its eastern side were surveyed.
Not as flat as it may appear in the
aerial photos.
The northern side looking west.
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© WLAG
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The ditch can be seen as the curving white feature to the left of the
image, which is reflected in the KAP image above. The black area is high
resistance and reflects the geology around the feature with
more discernible structural elements in the middle. An 'L' shaped feature
can be seen to the left within the bank and ditch in the KAP image and
this was picked up in the earth resistance. Part of this structure
appears to extend out of the southern bank into the field. To the east
there are similar high resistance linear structures, but they do not form
any discernible structure and are more indiscernible further east. The
large high resistance signatures are possibly masking more ephemeral
structures below and surrounding.
There are
no obvious signs of building rubble extending across the survey area,
suggesting any remaining foundations are possibly more complete than was
first thought. It is possible that the
structure was never completed as described in early accounts or the
building had its above-ground stone removed to build other structures in
the local area. This would indicate that the site is worth further investigation,
by either through further geophysical survey using a more targeted
methodology, or by further KAP work using
NIR or intrusive ground truthing.
JK |
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| We would like to thank David Reade of
Southrigg Farm for showing us the ornate
skewput that was found in his dairy wall. This resulted in our looking for
a possible site from which the skewput could have been taken, the above
Old Hall being a possible contender. Furthermore, we would like to
acknowledge the help and enthusiasm of Allan Mackenzie of The Local
Studies Discovery Room at Airdrie Library in Wellwynd. Alan pointed out
the association of the Hall with Dowager Lady Torphichen. |
Skewput - now a gate post (More
photos)
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February 2011 |
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Composite KAP image.
Large version © Jim
Knowles |
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The Old Hall looking eastwards. 26
February 2011 © Jim Knowles KAP |
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Netherton Colliery
© Jim
Knowles KAP |
| Colliery remains
visible in the image at the top of this page and at the top of the
image immediately below.
© Jim
Knowles KAP |
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| Near IR KAP was
of little extra value because of the thick grass. |
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