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MHG64214 - Shieling settlement - Bad an Dobhrain, Arisaig

Summary

A shieling site above the present tree line at Bad an Dobhran.

Type and Period (1)

Protected Status

Full Description

A walkover survey was conducted by Wordsworth Archaeological Services in 1996 for a proposed Woodland Grant Scheme application.

Site No: 29
Site name: Bad an Dobhrain
Description: A shieling site survives above the present tree line at Bad an Dobhran. One of the buildings 29/7 has been re-used as a still and is presumably the still referred to by Wendy Wood in use in 1875. The main area of the shieling is defined by a spread of bracken. The presence of stone clearance heaps suggests there may also have been periods of cultivation here.
29/1 NM 6527 7515 Oval drystone footing 5m by 3m, aligned E/W.
29/2 NM 6526 7514 Poorly defined turf walled structure 4m by 3m with stone footings partially exposed.
29/3 NM 6526 7512 Large stone blocks averaging 0.5m in diameter and up to lm in diameter have been used to form a rectangular enclosure 4m by 3m. Aligned N/S. This was probably an animal pen, perhaps for milking.
29/4 NM 6526 7512 4m by 2m stone footings poking through turf. As 29/3 aligned N/S. May also have been an animal pen.
29/5 NM 6527 7512 A poorly defined hollow mound 2m in diameter may once have been a turf walled structure.
29/6 NM 6526 7511 An oval dished hollow 4m by 3m and forming a mound lm high is almost certainly the remains of a sequence of turf walled shielings.
29/7 NM 6531 7511 A drystone structure 4m by 3m with a chamber 0.5m internal diameter at the W end is almost certainly a still site constructed on an earlier turf walled shieling structure. It lies on the E bank of the burn.
29/8 NM 6532 7508 To the S of 29/7 are the drystone footings of a turf walled building 6m by 3m. The footings 0.5m high are capped by turf and bracken.
Recommendation: The remains here area significant both in preserving a shieling settlement and in demonstrating a variety of building types and uses for this site. It will require weeding to prevent tree regeneration.
It could be incorporated into a trail that included site 26, though careful sign posting would be required. If this was to be displayed to the public the bracken would need to be treated with an approved herbicide to allow the sites to become visible. <1>

NGR adjusted based on 1999-2001 vertical aerial photographs. <2>

Sources/Archives (2)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NM 6527 7511 (116m by 153m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NM67NE
Civil Parish	ARISAIG AND MOIDART
Geographical Area	LOCHABER

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Investigations/Events (1)

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