The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

Cladich

Chambered Cairn

Fieldnotes

Visited 27.5.12

Day 2 of the holiday and it was time to make our way north to Oban to catch the ferry over to South Uist. There were a couple of Historic Scotland sites I wanted to knock off the list near Oban but I still had time to sneak in a couple of older sites!

First up was the Cladich chambered cairn. The cairn is easy enough to find; just outside the hamlet of Cladich on the A815 – you can park next to the field gate. Up and over the gate and a short uphill walk and you are there. The cairn can be seen from the field gate if memory serves me right.

I wasn’t expecting much from this visit but how wrong can a person be? This was a cracking place to come although I am sure the weather had a lot to do with me being in the right frame of mind! There wasn’t a cloud in the sky with the sun beating down. Bluebells carpeted the field and the only noise was a cuckoo was singing away in the distance. There are fantastic views to be had overlooking the dark blue waters of Loch Awe and a small patch of snow stubbornly hung on to crevice high up on the mountain opposite – sheer bliss!

As for the cairn itself it is approx 2 metres high x 30 metres long. There are two large stones on top of the cairn (one fallen) which are about 1 metre square. There are lots of stones sticking out of the grass. The central cist is about 1 metre square. I wonder if the fallen stone is in fact the cist cover? It looks about the right size?

This was one of those occasions where the experience of visiting a site was greater than what was actually left to see. (If that makes sense?)
I couldn’t have been happier – life doesn’t get much better than this!

Well worth a look if you happen to be on your way to Oban.
Posted by CARL
21st June 2012ce

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