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MHG286 - Township, Airigh Shamhraidh

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Full Description

The remains of this early 18th-century laird's house, with associated enclosures and rig-cultivation, and other fragmentary buildings, occupy a remote site on the SE coast of Kingairloch. The principal building, rectangular on plan and two-storeyed, is now so ruinous that, although its gable-walls stand to their full height, no openings survive in the side-walls. A second roofless building, also two-storeyed, stands at right angles to it; the distance between their adjacent angles being only 1.4m. Both structures are built of random-rubble masonry, bonded in lime mortar and harled externally.
To the E of these buildings there is a large tree-lined rectangular enclosure, apparently corresponding to that indicated on Roy's Map of about 1750. The level ground SW of the buildings, separated from them by a small stream, is occupied by the footings of two structures, both corn-drying kilns. The larger of these, situated some 60m S of the principal building, is a combined kiln-barn. The other is situated 27m W of the house. A ruinous dwelling of dry-stone masonry with cruck-recesses in the side and gable-walls, occupies the summit of a small knoll some 100m W of the main group of buildings. A smaller round-angled structure situated NE of the building just described was probably an outhouse associated with it.
Despite its name ('the summer shieling'), Airigh Shamhraidh appears on record as a permanent settlement in the early 16th century. The principal buildings described above probably belong to the first half of the 18th century, although the large kiln-barn is of earlier date. When the Kingairloch estate was acquired by James Forbes of Hutton Hall in 1800, the principal residence was established in a more accessible position at Corry, the site of the present Kingairloch House, and the older mansion became a subsidiary farm.
Visited June 1971
RCAHMS 1980

Five unroofed buildings, one of which is a long building of three compartments, one roofed building and one enclosure are depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Argyllshire 1875, sheet lvi). Five unroofed buildings, one of which has three compartments, and one enclosure are shown on the current edition of the OS 1:10000 map (1974).
Information from RCAHMS (SAH) 19 May 1998

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Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NM 8415 4939 (315m by 256m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NM84NW
Civil Parish	ARDGOUR
Geographical Area	LOCHABER

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