Ardvannie

Nearest town:
Tain (11km E)
OS reference:
NH68238740
OS sheet:
21
Latitude:
57° 51' 24.27 N
Longitude:
4° 13' 15.1 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Ardvannie (Chambered Cairn) by drewbhoy

In the woods behind there is another cairn, we took the very long route to it.

Image credit: drew/ED
drewbhoy
drewbhoy Apr 4, 2025
Image of Ardvannie (Chambered Cairn) by drewbhoy

The kind tree puts a protective branch over the remnants of the chamber.

Image credit: drew/ED
drewbhoy
drewbhoy Apr 4, 2025
Image of Ardvannie (Chambered Cairn) by GLADMAN

A traveller did wonder what lay within such turmoil...

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 20, 2016
Image of Ardvannie (Chambered Cairn) by GLADMAN

Quite a bit remains of this obscure chambered cairn tucked away beside Ardvannie.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 20, 2016

Articles

Ardvannie

drewbhoy
drewbhoy Jun 30, 2025

After hunting about for various cairns on the south of the A836 it was time to drive along the road to park near Ardvannie’s Chamber Cairn, slightly to the north. At almost 26 meters wide and 1.6m tall, it would take a large tree to protect it. A beech provides the large tree which seems to be trying to protect the chamber, situated on the cairn’s south west.

As usual the cairn has been damaged, the access road has removed a chunk on the east side, field clearance has been dumped on top (also around the edges) along with the usual stone removal.

A bit of a ‘what if’ but also enough to let an imagination conjure up an image of what it once looked like.

We would see this site again later in the day, completely accidentally, of course.

Visited 31/03/2025.

Miscellaneous

Ardvannie
Chambered Cairn
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jan 14, 2018

This is a pretty substantial chambered cairn hidden away, in light woodland, to the left of a driveway/track accessing equestrian buildings from the A836. Not wishing to look around incognito in such an environment, I duly announced myself at the – to judge by the voices – clearly occupied house... but to no avail. I therefore checked out the monument anyway.

Although overgrown and sylvan, the large cairn possesses a clear chamber... not to mention an evocative, wistful vibe.

According to Canmore: “This Orkney-Cromarty Cairn measures 21m in diameter and 0.9m in height. A polygonal chamber lies to the E of the centre of the cairn.” RCAHMS November 1977.

There is at least another cairn sited a little north, not to mention what, to my mind, are the remains of a fantastically sited hill fort upon Struie Hill to the south. Great views from that ‘un.

Sites within 20km of Ardvannie