Monument record 6940 - South Glen Dale

SU 17:
Orientated from south-west to north-east, this rectangular, turf built, ston lined drying barn measures 7.2 x 5.9 metres. A single entrance may be seen towards the north-east end of the north-west wall. Internally a step demarks the south-west end of the structure. Into this step the circular bowl of a small kiln has been constructed in the buildings south-west corner. This kiln bowl measures no more than 0.8 metres in diameter.
Interpretation: Drying barns such as this have been recorded in association with many of the blackhouses seen during the present survey. In this case the remains are so fragmentary that the flue linking the kiln bowl to the fire place in no longer visible. The kiln would have been used for the drying of the cereal crops gathered late in the growing season (August-October) which had not dried properly before harvest. It may have also has secondary uses for malting of grains for whiskey production and as a guest room for accommodating visitors.
(Babtie Group, 1999)

Babtie Group, 2000, Eriskay Causeway Archaeological Sruvey Draft Report (Unpublished document). SWE41018.