Cellar Walls, Jim Col (Eigg Mountain Settlement History)

 

Figure 1 – Panorama of the northwest corner and north wall.

 

These walls have been abandoned for close to 100 years now so it is remarkable how well they have lasted.  Good drainage in the infill behind the wall must be part of the secret.  Frost heave in wet soil is like a many-ton hydraulic press that slowly pushes the wall in from the top (something that is starting to happen here).  The Cols also found unusually good quality building stone for Eigg Mountain – they have long parallel horizontals and relatively clean faces.  They have also set them skillfully – inserting little set-stones and wedges to take up looseness in the fit and to keep the lines horizontal (see figures 3 and 4).

 

Figure 2 – Stereoscopic view of the north wall (meant for cross-viewing).  You can see how stones are being pushed forward out of alignment.

 

Figure 3 – A Nice Set. The builders have used a complex fitting of stones to compensate for the odd-shaped base stone on the left.  It starts with a two-part vertical wedge on the right, then two fragmented courses above it, then finally three big blocks reassert the always desirable horizontal line.

 

Figure 4 – Supporting a Wedge.  Here the big wedge-shaped stone creates a problem that is solved with three well placed support chips.  In fieldstone masonry wedges are more often problem solvers than problem makers.