Interesting find in Hunterston Sands

A group of large oak timbers thought to be from an 800-year-old dismantled timber tower has been discovered buried in the sand.

The site was discovered during a research survey involving members of the local community including Friends of Portencross Castle and professional archaeologists from Wessex Archaeology Coastal and Marine in collaboration with the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCHMS).

Known as the ‘COALIE’ project – Coastal Archaeological Landscapes: Intertidal and Estuarine – work is focused on the coastal and marine heritage of the North Ayrshire coast between Ardrossan and Largs, investigating sites such as abandoned harbours, beacons, shipwrecks and fishtraps.

The timbers found at Hunterson have been dated using tree rings in the oak which suggest at least one of the timbers is around 800 years old, making this a very unusual find.

Time team boffins say the timbers have the potential to reveal much about the nature of the building they were part of, about the woodland they were cut from and about historic carpentry from a lost age.

The site – a strategic coastal position during the reign of Alexander II in the early 13th century AD – is located on the estate of one of Scotland’s oldest families, the Hunters, adding to the mystery and potential importance of the remains.

The COALIE project team has been working at the site near the power station since the destructive winter storms of early 2014 and has made some remarkable discoveries.

Although it has long been known that there were archaeological sites here, they were not well-understood.

A detailed GPS and field-walking survey was conducted last year, revealing that the long series of boulder banks criss-crossing Hunterston Sands are not fish traps as previously thought, but may instead be part of substantial land reclamation schemes during the last few hundred years linked to the Hunterston Estate.

Clearly visible from the air, the boulder banks cover an area of at least 500 square metres and archaeologists believe they previously marked the edge of the coast, when the vegetated saltmarsh on Hunterston Sands was much more extensive.

The wet coastal environment has preserved the timbers in excellent condition despite some evidence of attack by marine boring organisms and surface weathering.

Each massive timber is a naturally-grown oak which has been halved lengthways with a complex series of angled joints and carpentry worked into the end of the timbers.

They are all at least 2m long and around 0.5m wide; the close similarity of the carpentry suggests they are from the same original structure, later dismantled or reused.

In addition, a large, mysterious hexagonal, stone-built harbour on the very tip of Brigurd Point, was surveyed and dived on during a very low-tide.

The harbour is around 60m wide and could have accommodated a number of boats but bizarrely only at low-tide.

No diagnostic features were found within the structure to provide clues on the age or specific function of the harbour; it is believed to pre-date available historic documents so may be at least of medieval age.

Dr Andy Bicket, Senior Archaeologist and Geoarchaeologist for Wessex Archaeology, Coastal and Marine said: “This represents an incredibly rare and exciting find.

“The Firth of Clyde has long been an important maritime route from early prehistory to the present day and we have rare and fascinating pieces of the historic seascape preserved in Hunterston Sands.

“The early 13th century was a key period for defining Scotland and the west coast seaways were instrumental in the strategies of the various factions vying for control.

“The structures on Hunterston Sands also highlight that managing coastal change has long been an important issue for people”.