Following the news that the community group and charity Bridgend Inspiring Growth have been successful in their Big Lottery funding bid to allow renovations of Bridgend Farmhouse, Rubicon carried out a programme of building recording on the farmhouse and archaeological evaluation to the east and north of the building before the development commences.

The study of the farmhouse building revealed some typically Georgian architectural features in the south part of the farmhouse which has undergone major re-modelling during the use of the building. The north part of the farmhouse is a later extension which was in place by 1833, as seen in a plan of the farm at this time. The thackstanes, which are stones projecting from the chimney and would have covered the upper edge of the thatch on the roof, are still evident on all the chimneys heads. Further work as the development gets underway may reveal more features which help us piece together the story of the building.

The archaeological evaluation was focussed towards the back of the farmhouse where three trenches were dug. The lack of archaeological features gave the volunteers from the Greater Liberton Heritage Project pause for thought on the trial and tribulations of archaeological investigations and left us wondering about the location of the settlement which is known to have existed at Bridgend.

You can find more information about the project at the Bridgend Inspiring Growth website here and you can access information about the history of the area and previous work at the site on the Greater Liberton Heritage website here. More about Rubicon’s earlier work at this location can be seen in our blog here.