Caen Longhouse Settlement

Caen Longhouse Settlement

A Collaborative project between Open Virtual Worlds, research team within the School of Computer Science, University of St Andrews and Timespan. Virtual Reconstruction and Film: Sarah Kennedy Digital Curation, Archaeological Research and Narration: Jacquie Aitken Character Animation: Lucy Hardie Digital Systems: Iain Oliver Digitisation of feature objects: Catherine-Anne Cassidy Project Coordinator: Alan Miller The settlement of Caen is located a few miles north of the fishing village of Helmsdale along the Strath of Kildonan road. It is located in a narrow valley along the banks of a tumbling burn that flows into the Helmsdale River. The presence of Neolithic stone burial cairns and Iron Age roundhouses in the vicinity shows us that people had been farming this land for over 6,000 years. In 1230AD, the lands of Kildonan formed part of the Earldom of Sutherlandshire, a part-feudal land-owning system created by Alexander II, who granted the lands to William de Moravia, the 1st Earl of Sutherland. This system prevailed relatively unchanged until the early 19th century when the landowners implemented a major plan of improvements instigated by technological and agricultural advancements led by a wealthy class of aristocrats known as improvers. The people of Kildonan were removed from their homes and relocated to the coast at Helmsdale and were allocated small strips of land to work on the steep stony hillsides, next to the sea. The hilly uplands in Kildonan were used to graze huge flocks of cheviot and blackface sheep, whose wool had tripled in price due to high demand in Britain and Europe. The reconstruction of the township of Caen gives us an authentic insight into the daily life of a farming community, before the Clearances.

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https://player.vimeo.com/video/428461938

VIDEO

A Collaborative project between Open Virtual Worlds, research team within the School of Computer Science, University of St Andrews and Timespan. Virtual Reconstruction and Film: Sarah Kennedy Digital Curation, Archaeological Research and Narration: Jacquie Aitken Character Animation: Lucy Hardie Digital Systems: Iain Oliver Digitisation of feature objects: Catherine-Anne Cassidy Project Coordinator: Alan Miller The settlement of Caen is located a few miles north of the fishing village of Helmsdale along the Strath of Kildonan road. It is located in a narrow valley along the banks of a tumbling burn that flows into the Helmsdale River. The presence of Neolithic stone burial cairns and Iron Age roundhouses in the vicinity shows us that people had been farming this land for over 6,000 years. In 1230AD, the lands of Kildonan formed part of the Earldom of Sutherlandshire, a part-feudal land-owning system created by Alexander II, who granted the lands to William de Moravia, the 1st Earl of Sutherland. This system prevailed relatively unchanged until the early 19th century when the landowners implemented a major plan of improvements instigated by technological and agricultural advancements led by a wealthy class of aristocrats known as improvers. The people of Kildonan were removed from their homes and relocated to the coast at Helmsdale and were allocated small strips of land to work on the steep stony hillsides, next to the sea. The hilly uplands in Kildonan were used to graze huge flocks of cheviot and blackface sheep, whose wool had tripled in price due to high demand in Britain and Europe. The reconstruction of the township of Caen gives us an authentic insight into the daily life of a farming community, before the Clearances.