MAD evening with David Newman: The Norse presence in North Uist
13 March 2025 19:30
This Monthly Archaeological Discussion (MAD) will be at Ferintosh Church Hall in Conon Bridge. This is next to the large car park in the centre of the village. NH 54259 55557. Google maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/qp9bvSp3JmbPiWEC6.
In the spring of 2022 David Newman and his field survey colleague Roger Auger were searching for the remains of potential Norse settlement around North Uist's uninhabited NE coast and offshore
islands. Their work came to the attention of Alexandra Sanmark at UHI, one of the lead archaeologists on the 'Norse and the Sea' project being undertaken jointly by UHI, Kiel University, and the Centre for Baltic Studies in Germany. This presentation is based on a paper they presented at the 'Norse and the Sea' conference in Skye last October. It summarises some of their research and discoveries in that part of Uist.
After qualifying as an architect in 1976, David moved to Oban where he worked for two local architects before establishing his own practice in 1981. As well as undertaking a wide range of commissions in the Highlands and Islands, he developed a particular expertise in the design of aquariums which led to a senior role in the leisure industry, followed by a decade of design consultancy work across Europe. Upon retirement he and Jean divided their lives between South Uist in the Hebrides and eastern Andalusia, and they eventually settled permanently on North Uist in 2012. There his long-standing interest in archaeology was re-ignited by the SCAPE coastal survey project and he and his neighbour on the island of Grimsay, Roger Auger, a retired mathemetician, carried out extensive field survey work across North Uist over the next 10 years, publishing several books on their discoveries on such diverse topics as lost townships, thatched houses and shielings. Jean and David now live in Easter Ross, having moved there in the autumn of 2022.