Illicit whisky still uncovered after 200 years

Archaeologists have uncovered the site of secret, illegal whisky distilling that had likely lain hidden in a remote gully for more than 200 years.

The team unearthed part of an illicit still used to make whisky, as well as stones and a timber post of the small building - called a bothy - that once housed the equipment.

An illegal whisky trade boomed in the late 18th and early 19th centuries following 1788's Excise Act, which banned the use of small household stills.

The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) archaeology team and volunteers made the discovery on Ben Lawers National Nature Reserve near Killin.

Archaeologists had suspected that a stone structure in the gully on a stream called Lawers Burn had concealed an illicit still.

An excavation revealed remains of the bothy including a hearth, a drain beneath a stone floor, and a timber post that had supported the building's roof.

The team was excited to uncover a piece of copper alloy they believe had been used as a collar to connect two parts of the still.

NTS said there were now five known illicit still bothies on the reserve, but this was the first site where a piece of copper still had been found.

The trust's head of archaeology, Derek Alexander, said: "This is a wonderful example of how archaeology can tell a gripping story of spirit smuggling that would otherwise have been lost to time."

Alexander said the Ben Lawers area was the scene of a "battle of wits" between illegal distillers and excise officers trying to catch them in the early 19th Century.

"Those who distilled spirit in this bothy will have picked the location carefully to make sure they were well hidden," he said.

"This bothy is well concealed along one arm of the Lawers Burn, nestled in a burn gully where there's a slight bend in the burn to shield the site from both upstream and downstream.

"The people who distilled here knew what they were doing and it's possible the still was never seized by the authorities."

Alexander said it was possible the copper collar was left behind by accident, after the smugglers had dismantled the still in a hurry.

"Distillers of illicit whisky would've travelled light and left little trace of their activity, and so a find like this is especially rare and exciting," he said.

"It gives us a glimpse into an activity that was once rife in the hills of Ben Lawers and which was seen by many as an act of community resistance."

The find was made as part of The Pioneering Spirit project, which has identified 30 illicit distilling sites across Scotland.

Other sites have been discovered over the years.

Parts of the foundations of a small building that had housed a still were found by forestry workers in Glen Affric, near Cannich in the Highlands, in 2008.

The site was later recognised as a monument of national importance.

In 2019, experts identified two ruined farmsteads in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park as illicit whisky distilling sites.