Asknish House, Historic Building Record

The proposals for the archaeological research of the house were as follows: " A review of the historic information as accumulated " Detailed photographic survey of the house " Recording of house as works progress " Assessment of buildings and structures within the policies, including the drainage system " To review the old house site and undertake a geophysical survey to map potential buried remains associated with the earlier Castle " Production of a summary report An initial visit to the house was undertaken by Tom Addyman in September 2017 and an initial photographic survey was carried out by Kenneth Macfadyen in October 2017, as various soft stripping elements had been completed, which exposed mostly significant historic fabric. A further assessment visit, including the policies and cellar not previously recorded, was undertaken in March 2018, only features visible during these limited site visits were recorded further features are likely to have been exposed and covered up in the meantime and since. Addyman Archaeology undertook historic building recording at Asknish House in advance of its restoration. Asknish House was an 18th century house, a replacement for earlier house/castle dating to at least the 16th century. The structure had been abandoned for a number of years and water ingress had caused extensive rot in the structure. The current works were to return the house into a liveable state. This involved extensive stripping back of 20th century linings and opening up of the original structure. Revealed in the opening up were the original construction details, which involved an interesting arrangement of principal joists in the flooring and structural partitions. Recovered from within one original partition was a mid-18th century print of the Earl of Bute, which had been broken up in its frame, accompanied by a letter by an unknown writer, referring to the late Duke of Argyll.