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MHG12993 - Enclosure - Geo-Na-Tent

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Full Description

NC14SW 1 1486 4320.

At NC 1486 4320, concealed in a deep hollow at the end of a rocky bay, is a roughly oval enclosure, 13m by 8m, with narrow entrances at the NW and SE. The drystone wall is 0.7m thick and stands to a maximum height of 1.1m. The interior is floored with rubble and scree packing but the only feature is a small pen at the SW, probably a later addition.
Mr Thompson (A Thompson, Cardhu, Scourie) stated that the enclosure was named 'Geo-na- Tent' and had been a secret meeting place of the Covenanters. He believes it once carried a tent-like roof.
Visited by OS (F R H) 20 June 1962; Visible on RAF air photographs 106G. Scot. UK74: 4167-8, flown 9 May 1946.

The enclosure, as described above, was a secret meeting place, not of the Covenanters, but of the adherents to the Free Church who, having broken away from the established Church of Scotland in the mid-19th century, would worship in the open in the absence of a church. A similar enclosure occurs at Torridon (NG 8956 - but possibly at NG 816 544) and at Cove, a cave was utilised (NG89SW 1). The tradition is common knowledge in Scourie, but the name Geo-na-Tent (an unlikely mixture of Norse, Gaelic and English) is not.
Revised at 1:10,000.
Visited by OS (N K B) 15 July 1980.

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Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NC 1486 4320 (60m by 60m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NC14SW
Geographical Area	SUTHERLAND
Civil Parish	EDDRACHILLIS

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