2007 excavation: The Girnel?The Saltman's House | The Pan House? | The Girnel? | Building with floor A long, mortared stone wall in the vicinity of the 'Old Salt House', as recorded on Farey’s 1813 map, has always been one of the most prominent features on Brora’s Back Beach (Building 2). This wall, along with Building 1 further to the north east, may form part of the row of buildings near the ‘Winter Port’, which made a sudden appearance in 1869 and which were identified at the time as part of the old salt pans. The wall is aligned NE-SW with a doorway towards its north east end and runs along the base of a sand dune. In the 1970s, two of the local doctors, Dr. Gilbert and Dr. Simpson, photographed and drew what was visible of the wall and the features around it, while, in more recent years, Clyne Heritage Society have recovered sherds of late medieval glazed pottery from the sand dune on the landward side of the wall. In 2004, its increasingly precarious condition led the Society, in conjunction with Shorewatch, to uncover the wall. This revealed that it extended for at least 20m and that a possible old ground surface was preserved within the doorway. In 2007, further excavation proved that - although very little of the wall now survives and its original extent can no longer be determined - an additional face appeared to have been inserted to strengthen the wall. The size and position of this building, so close to the sea, suggests that it might have been the girnel or storehouse for the salt, close to the ‘Winter Port’, where ships could have come in to take the salt away.
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