Sarsgrum

Nearest town:
Thurso (74km ENE)
OS reference:
NC37926435
OS sheet:
9
Latitude:
58° 32' 13.85 N
Longitude:
4° 47' 4.66 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Sarsgrum (Cairn(s)) by markj99

Exposed Chamber in E Arc of Sarsgrum Chambered Cairn.

Image credit: Mark Johnstone
markj99
markj99 Apr 25, 2024
Image of Sarsgrum (Cairn(s)) by Nucleus

The remaining cist seen from the northeast
Visited 3rd June 2015

Image credit: Uwe Häberle 06/2015
Nucleus
Nucleus Dec 25, 2019
Image of Sarsgrum (Cairn(s)) by Nucleus

The covering slab of the cist with at least two cup marks
Visited 3rd June 2015

Image credit: Uwe Häberle 06/2015
Nucleus
Nucleus Dec 25, 2019
Image of Sarsgrum (Cairn(s)) by GLADMAN

The location upon the shore of the Kyle of Durness is superb.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 18, 2016
Image of Sarsgrum (Cairn(s)) by GLADMAN

The best frontal image of the chamber I could achieve with such extreme light contrast. What an evening!

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 18, 2016
Image of Sarsgrum (Cairn(s)) by GLADMAN

Sadly the chamber was filled with glass and other unsavoury debris, a strong adour of wild mint suggestive of abandonment. Nevertheless the survival of this beside the main coastal road is remarkable.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 18, 2016
Image of Sarsgrum (Cairn(s)) by GLADMAN

Although the cairn is mutilated, quite a bit still remains in situ... together with an intact chamber (wouldn’t call it a cist myself). The situation is a little eerie, being beside a derelict farmhouse; although by the looks of it I’d suggest it (the house) may well be renovated in the not too distant future.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 18, 2016
Image of Sarsgrum (Cairn(s)) by GLADMAN

Approaching from the approx west there doesn’t seem much here. At first...

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 18, 2016

Articles

Sarsgrum

markj99
markj99 Apr 25, 2024

Visited 03.09.21

As Gladman suggested, the house adjacent to Sarsgrum Cairn has been renovated. The A838 is now part of the NC500 leading to more traffic passing the cairn, however it is still relatively easy to stop and view the cairn.

Sarsgrum

C
CARL Aug 15, 2014

Directions:
On the A838 – right next to a derelict farmhouse overlooking the Kyle of Durness.

Funny how Rhiannon posted folklore about this site only yesterday and now here I am posting field notes about the place!

This is a super site and I am really surprised that no one has commented on it before now giving it is right next to the main (only) road. As anyone who has visited this part of the world will know you can park pretty much where you like.

The cairn is right next to the derelict cottage and is enclosed by a stone wall. The pile of stones is quite large but best of all is the huge cap stone lying on top of it and its exposed cist!. There are also superb coastal views from the top of the cairn.

I love this part of the world. Where else can you park on an A road which has passing places and where you have to stop your car as there is a lamb suckling milk from their mother in the middle of the road! If you like isolation – this is the place to come. Fab!

I heartily recommend a visit to all who come to the far north – you have to drive past the thing anyway!

CANMORE states:
‘The remains of a large cairn about 50ft in diameter. Most of it has been removed, exposing a cist lying N-S and consisting of a covered slab, 4ft 10ins long by 3ft 4ins broad and 8ins thick, supported on three upright slabs, a fourth at the S end having fallen’. 1909

‘An overgrown cairn as described by RCAHMS and measuring 16m in diameter and 2m high’ 1960

‘This cairn, with cist exposed, as described by previous authorities’ 1978

Folklore

Sarsgrum
Cairn(s)
Rhiannon
Rhiannon Aug 14, 2014

This is really such a superb part of the country and reading about it makes me want to go back. The cairn might not be the one in the story – I can’t find one now known by the name ‘Carn Glas’ (although it’s common enough). But it could be, it’s right by the road and big enough at 50ft diameter and 6ft high to be noticeable. It’s got a c5ft long slab, a hefty 8” thick, covering a cist.

The Labourer’s Dream.

A labourer (navvy) was working on the road between Rhi-conich and Durness, in Sutherlandshire, about fifty years ago, and dreamed on a Saturday night that if he rose early on Monday morning, so as to be at Carn Glas at sunrise, he would see a crow sitting on a stone. Under that stone he would find the gold which was hid after the murder of a Norwegian prince.

The labourer was in so great a hurry to get the gold that he could not wait till Monday, but set off on Sunday evening, as he had a long way to go. When he reached Carn Glas, there was a crow sitting on a stone, but he did not know which was the right one, for there was a crow on every stone!

People who could interpret dreams said that this happened because he broke the Sabbath; he ought to have waited till the Lord’s Day had gone past, and he would have been certain to get the gold.

From p373 in volume 9 of ‘Folk-lore’ (1898).

Sites within 20km of Sarsgrum