Major Landscape Survey in East Renfrewshire
Members of the Association of Certificated Field Archaeologists (ACFA) have completed a major landscape survey of the lands of Middleton Farm, East Renfrewshire. This survey, prompted by the possibility of renewable energy projects being proposed for the area, looked in greater detail at an area previously surveyed in the early 1990s. A prehistoric farmstead site reported from the area by Dr T.C. Welsh in 1984, and located some 500m southwest of Middleton Farmstead, formed the focus of the most recent phase of survey. However, in addition to this, three further substantial fields were surveyed in order to enhance the record for the area as a whole, and this served to identify and record over 50 potential sites of interest.
ACFA was formed in 1987, and its membership comprises holders of the University of Glasgow Certificate in Field Archaeology, awarded by the Department of Adult & Continuing Education. The original three year part-time course taught adult students the basic principles of archaeological field survey and the importance of recording our cultural heritage of all periods. ACFA seeks to continue this work by undertaking field surveys in Scotland, and is willing to undertake non-commercial surveys at the request of private individuals, local community groups, Heritage and Local History societies. All surveys undertaken are recorded and the results published in the ACFA Occasional Paper Series. To date, ACFA has carried out over 80 surveys in Scotland in areas as geographically diverse as Sandwood in Sutherland, North Uist in the Outer Hebrides and Coalburn in South Lanarkshire.
The main site surveyed as part of the Middleton Farm survey comprised the sub-circular remains of the possible Late Bronze Age / Early Iron Age homestead, defined by a low bank measuring some 25m in diameter. No obvious entrance to the homestead was apparent, as the remnants of the bank appeared to form a continuous circuit. This bank varied in stature up to 0.3m in height and with a spread of up to 2.0m. The structure is located on a relatively level area, and little use appeared to have been made of natural contours, with only a short arc cut into the slope on its southern side. In the north, a possible platform was recorded, perhaps being built out to support the structure at a point where the general slope of the surrounding area resumes its fall towards the Walton Burn.
The ACFA surveyors also identified an inner bank of around 10m in diameter, possibly representing the remains of a hut circle within the surrounding bank of the homestead. The relationship between these features is depicted on the plan at the top of this page (ACFA copyright). Two further internal features are also, a possible ditch or drainage channel with very low banks on either side that runs roughly west to east across the site, dividing the circle into two unequal parts. As this feature does not seem to breach the surrounding structure, Bruce Henry, who edited the ACFA Occasional Paper detailing the results of the survey, suggests that it would appear to be contemporary with the hut circle. While no evidence was identified of an entrance to the hut circle, Mr Henry suggests that it is possible that this drain comes out at the doorway.
In additional to this site, over 50 potential archaeological features were identified and recorded during the course of the ACFA survey on the lands of Middleton Farm. Full details can be found in ACFA Occasional Paper No. 89, "Middleton Farm - An Archaeological Survey of the farm's lands in Mearns Parish, East Renfrewshire" (ISBN 978-0-9551890-8-1), available in local libraries, the RCAHMS, or through the ACFA website, where further information is also available on past, current and future ACFA fieldwork.