Description

The monument comprises the well-preserved remains of a pre-Improvement period farmstead known as Tafts. The farmstead includes the remains of a roofless two-storey house, an associated barn with attached corn-drying kiln, the foundations of three byres, and two yards enclosed by stone dykes. The monument is located on an area of sloping ground at the heart of an extensive township known as Quandale (or Quendale), at about 40m above sea level, some 675m inland from the exposed W coast of Rousay.

The farmstead is aligned NE-SW with the buildings located on either side of a central track. The main house is a two-storey structure with thick stone walls, crow-stepped gables, double-splayed windows, an internal staircase and a central stone-walled passageway connecting two opposing entrances. The house measures approximately 10m NE-SW by 5m transversely. To the NE of the house is a long narrow barn measuring approximately 12m NE-SW by 4m transversely, with a corn kiln attached to its NE end. Both buildings are situated along the SE side of a near-rectangular walled yard measuring 32m NE-SW by 15m transversely. Three byre buildings are located on the other side of a central track, facing the house and barn. The byres are all approximately 6m NE-SW by 4m transversely and form the NW side of a second stone-walled yard measuring some 41m NE-SW by 33m transversely.

The farm was acquired in 1841 by George William Traill and inherited by Frederick William Traill-Burroughs, known as the 'Little General', who were responsible for clearance of the area, a practice not normally associated with Orkney. Tafts was cleared in 1846, although its corn kiln had been built only four years earlier. The house at Tafts is the only building surviving from the Quandale clearances.

The scheduled area is rectangular on plan, measuring 100m NW-SE by 75m transversely. It includes the remains described above and an area around them within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The scheduling specifically excludes the above-ground elements of all modern post-and-wire fences to allow for their maintenance.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a well-preserved example of an intact pre-Improvement period farmstead - a rare occurrence in Orkney. The monument has high potential to make a significant contribution to our understanding of the past, particularly to our understanding of rural vernacular buildings, society, agricultural practices and economy in Orkney from at least the 16th through to the 19th century. The farmhouse is believed to be the earliest two-storey house in Orkney and retains unusual structural characteristics which can inform our understanding of the range and construction details of pre-Improvement period vernacular buildings. There is good potential for the survival of important archaeological deposits and environmental evidence in the buildings and yards that can inform our understanding of the development and use of the farmstead, as well as of land management and agricultural practices. There are also extensive documentary sources associated with this farmstead: early tax records and property deeds and, for the 19th century, a fuller record of the clearances of the area. Tafts forms part of the Rousay clearance landscape, associated with the activities of George William Traill and Frederick William Traill-Burroughs, an infamous episode in Rousay's history. The loss of the monument would affect our ability to understand historic rural settlement and land-use, both in Orkney and further afield

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as HY33SE 44.

References

Clouston, J S 1924, 'Old Orkney houses III', Proc Orkney Antiq Soc 2, 11-14.

Lee, D 2008, Quandale, Rousay: The Biography of a Landscape: An interpretative landscape survey (unpublished MA Thesis, Orkney College).

RCAHMS 1982, The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. The archaeological sites and monuments of Rousay, Egilsay and Wyre, Orkney Islands Area, The archaeological sites and monuments of Scotland series 16, Edinburgh, 23, no 84.

Thomson, W P L 1981, The Little General and the Rousay Crofters: crisis and conflict on an Orkney crofting estate, Edinburgh.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland