Archaeology Notes

Approximately 500m downslope from the Mulreesh engine house and adjacent to the road leading to the Mulreesh mine was an ore dressing plant with water-powered trip hammer. A series of troughs for washing and grading ore were nearby. the reservoir was supplied by a leat that traversed the hillside from a small loch that was dammed to maintain a regular supply of water. it is also likely that the reservoir was fed via a series of troughs leading from the mine.

Two rubble-built walls some 1.5m thick form the remains of what was the reservoir. This feature was built on a terrace by quarrying into natural slate. The inner face of the wall shows evidence of a mortar lining. The walls have been breached at a later date and substantial amounts of stone have been robbed. An iron pipe is still in situ and is marked on the plan as a dotted line. This pipe connected to a water-driven stamp, evident by the former position of two concrete blocks. Only one block is in its original position. Two large iron bars, presumably bolts, protrude in front of the blocks. Substantial pieces of timber and the corresponding concrete block lie adjacent. A building to the E of the stamp-base is described as the mine-office. The building incorporates rough dressed stone and an unusually large buttress on its gable end.