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MHG29307 - Shieling settlement - Garrogie

Summary

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Type and Period (1)

Protected Status

Full Description

A shieling settlement, including at least 5 small builidngs and an enclosure above the River Fechlin at Garrogie.

Two enclosures are shown at this location on OS Mapping dating to 1971.

The larger of the two enclosures was visted and recorded during a walkover survey by SUAT in 2000 in advance of a proposed hydro-electric scheme at Garrogie. The 1971 map also shows two enclosures on the hillslope on the NE side of the Fechlin, 80-90m above the river, at NH 5101 1201. The remains of the larger of these two enclosures were encountered (005), while the other could not be located, probably hidden by undergrowth. 005 was a roughly rectangular structure of drystone build. It measured roughly 4.6 m north-south by 11.4 m east-west. Three courses of rounded boulders were visible, generally standing to a height of 0.5 m. The north¬west corner had apparently been formed into a cairn, and stood to a height of 1.0 m. This enclosure should not be affected by the pipeline as it lay north of the planned route. <1>

Considerably more features are visible at this location on vertical aerial photographs taken at intervals between 1999-2001 and 2023. The enclosure noted as 005 in <1> appears to be somewhat larger than described, being 16m east-west by 10m north-south internally so it is possible that the measurement directions were confused by the surveyors and the smaller measurement should actually be 14.6m rather than 4.6m. Aerial photographs clearly show the smaller 'enclosure' c.68m to the southeast of the larger at NGR 251159 812096. It appears to be more like the remains of a rubble-built rectangular building measuring 9m north-south by 4m east-west. The remains of at least 3 other small rectangular buildings, perhaps larger shieling huts or bothies, lie between the enclosure and the rubble-built building with an additional possibly two buildings lying immediately to the southeast of the latter. A number of what appear to be clearance cairns c.4m across lie in a line or rough arc to the west of the buildings. They would, however, be more indicative of the presence of a prehistoric hut circle and an associated field system than a shieling settlement (see MHG63120 for discussion) [IS-L 07/06/2024].

GIS spatial extent amended accoirding to locations and interpretations of features as seen on 2023 vertical aerial photographs. <2>

Sources/Archives (2)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NH 5114 1212 (76m by 107m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NH51SW
Civil Parish	BOLESKINE AND ABERTARFF
Geographical Area	INVERNESS

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