Culchunaig

Nearest town:
Inverness (8km W)
OS reference:
NH74204418
OS sheet:
27
Latitude:
57° 28' 13.69 N
Longitude:
4° 5' 52.06 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Culchunaig (Clava Cairn) by thesweetcheat

Lovely swirly stone of the remaining kerbstone. I think this might be gneiss, but very happy to be corrected.

Image credit: A. Brookes (20.10.2014)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Dec 28, 2014
Image of Culchunaig (Clava Cairn) by thesweetcheat

One of the bigger slabs in the mound. The sharp edge indicates that it was once bigger.

Image credit: A. Brookes (20.10.2014)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Dec 28, 2014
Image of Culchunaig (Clava Cairn) by thesweetcheat

Looking southeast across the Nairn Valley. Although the main sites of the Clava group are too low-lying to be visible from here, Culdoich South (in front of the prominent knoll under the tree-line) is intervisible with Culchunaig.

Image credit: A. Brookes (20.10.2014)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Dec 28, 2014
Image of Culchunaig (Clava Cairn) by thesweetcheat

There are some big stones in the cairn. The pile in the background looks to be field clearance, but who knows?

Image credit: A. Brookes (20.10.2014)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Dec 28, 2014
Image of Culchunaig (Clava Cairn) by thesweetcheat

One standing stone remains of a probable surrounding circle. The big upright beyond is the remains of the kerb.

Image credit: A. Brookes (20.10.2014)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Dec 28, 2014
Image of Culchunaig (Clava Cairn) by thesweetcheat

I’ve gotta be honest, the whole monument-as-feeding-station thing doesn’t really work for me.

Image credit: A. Brookes (20.10.2014)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Dec 28, 2014
Image of Culchunaig (Clava Cairn) by thesweetcheat

The first thought as I approach up the gently sloping field is: “big standing stone – yay!“. The second thought is “what the hell is that in front of the monument?”

Image credit: A. Brookes (20.10.2014)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Dec 28, 2014

Articles

Miscellaneous

Culchunaig
Clava Cairn
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Jul 13, 2012

Canmore description:

The stones appear to be the last remains of a denuded cairn with a diameter of 60 to 70 feet. There are two large boulders 21 feet 6 inches apart on its south edge, probably the remains of a kerb. On the north and north-east are a few small earthfast stones which might represent more of the kerb setting.
Twenty feet to the south-west between these two slabs is another upright stone 5 feet 10 inches high. This stone might well be the last survivor of a circle of monoliths set round a cairn of Clava type.
The site is listed by Fraser (1884) but was already in its present state for the OS 6"map, 1st ed., (1871) marks three dots at the edge of a stippled area (agreeing with the features which can be seen at present.)

Scheduled as ‘Culchunaig, cairn and standing stone 300m SE of...‘
Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 30 March 2007.

Sites within 20km of Culchunaig

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