Basement at Glenkindie House

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Basement of Glenkindie House

The double-chamber earthhouse Glenkindie House is a basement that was discovered in Aberdeenshire , Scotland in the 19th century . It was found about 800 m from the Don River, covered by a pile of stones that is no longer recognizable today. The curved basement is located on a wooded hill at an altitude of 250 m. ET Wainwright drew attention to this atypical basement for the group. In the case of the basement, a basic distinction is made between "rock-cut", "earth-cut", "stone built" and "mixed" basements.

description

The well-preserved basement is located on a narrow terrace under a group of trees 340 m southwest of Glenkindie House. It consists of two corridors or chambers. The northern one can only be reached from the main chamber through a narrow passage at the western end of the north wall. When the basement was discovered in 1817, the curved main chamber was 10 m long. In 1888 it was only about 6.6 m long. The two galleries were 1.65 to 1.95 m high and 1.85 to 2.77 m wide. The original entrance to the main chamber has been buried. It was apparently still visible in 1817. At that time, the accessible part of the corridor extended at least another three meters to the east. The end of the corridor and the details of the access are probably still under an earth ramp that is located in the basement and was entered by destroying the roof. The walls are made of rubble masonry on a base of large upright rocks, some of which are over a meter high. Dry masonry was installed above. The roof is made up of large irregular panels, the largest of which is 1.5 m wide and probably at least 2.5 m long. The gaps between them have been filled with smaller plates.

Side chamber

The access to the north chamber is 1.6 m from the west end and 0.6 m above ground level. The trilith access through three large stones (two posts and a lintel) is about 0.75 m high, 0.5 m wide and 0.6 m long. There is evidence that the access originally also had a threshold stone. The north chamber with a ventilation hole in the roof measures five meters in length and is up to 1.9 m wide and high. The floor is flush with the entrance 0.6 m above the level of the main chamber. The structure of the walls and roof is similar to that in the main chamber.

See also

literature

  • Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS): Emergency Survey 1942-3 [typescripts], in Reynolds, DM 2v. Typescripts (1942-3).
  • Frederick T. Wainwright: Souterrains in Scotland. In: Antiquity. Vol. 27, No. 108, 1953, ISSN  0003-598X , pp. 219-232, doi : 10.1017 / S0003598X00025084 .

Web links

Coordinates: 57 ° 12 '57.9 "  N , 2 ° 57' 48"  W.