Built in 1766 by the Scottish Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge, set up in 1709 and aimed to establish schools in the Highlands and Islands in order to promote Christian learning and to help stamp out Roman Catholicism and Gaelic to provide education for local children, the building is currently in a very fragile condition and priority must be given to stabilising it to avoid further deterioration and to make it safe for public access.

 

The little known history gives a fascinating insight into education and society in the Highlands in the 18th Century and early part of the 19th Century.  The schoolhouse is an interesting site it’s in own right and there are various possibilities for consolidating the building, researching its history and interpreting it to the public.  There is a great deal of potential to  research the school house further – both by researching SPCK and other archival material  and by investigating the structure itself to see if light can be shed on how it may have  looked and functioned when it was complete. The Development group intent to commission archaeologists to undertake limited archaeological excavation to shed more light on how the schoolhouse might have looked and functioned when in use as a school where there would be scope for community involvement in these activities.

 

The Loch Croispol area is scattered with remains from different periods and although it is a particularly rich archaeological landscape, the types of features you see here can also be seen in variety of other locations around Sutherland.

 

There is excellent potential to interpret the area sensitively for the benefit of both local residents and visitors to the Durness area.

 

The aim to help visitors to the site identify the main types of archaeological features visible – particularly burial cairns, hut circles, pre-clearance settlement remains and “improved” agricultural landscapes  – and encourage them to look for other examples as they travel around Sutherland

The features here belong to a range of different archaeological periods from prehistoric times onwards giving interesting clues about why and how people lived here at these different times. If these various types of features that are visible can be included within an archaeological timeline people would get an idea of the way of life of life of the people who built and used the features. Interpretation will look at why small settlements were situated in such seemingly isolated positions, the type of building visitors are likely to find and why they were abandoned.  This encompasses issues such as the Bronze Age and subsequent climate change, the early church at Balnakeil and links with St Maolrubha, the Reay Lords, agricultural improvements, fishing, the Highland Clearances, crofting and tourism.

 

Loch Croispol is part of a bigger archaeological and historical jigsaw – In Mackay Country there are other places which have interesting stories to tell about the area’s past. It is intended to look at related sites in the Durness and North-west Sutherland area and encourage visitors to go and see them – including, for example,  Balnakeil Church, House and Corn-mill; Ceannabeinne, Laid, Strathnaver Museum and Strathnaver Archaeology Trail, Assynt historic/archaeological site with exploration of the relationship between the features. It is proposed that as the project advances over two years the progress will be incorporated within the community website