Struidh

Also known as:
The Oracle
Nearest town:
Mallaig (19km ENE)
OS reference:
NM4929489897
OS sheet:
39
Latitude:
56° 55' 56.63 N
Longitude:
6° 7' 16.92 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Struidh (Enclosure) by thelonious

28/06/2016 – Limpet shells just inside the entrance to the underground chamber.

thelonious
thelonious Jul 6, 2016
Image of Struidh (Enclosure) by thelonious

28/06/2016 – Looking into the void. Mrs T is in the distance about as far as you can go. It did look to extend beyond this though.

thelonious
thelonious Jul 6, 2016
Image of Struidh (Enclosure) by thelonious

28/06/2016 – The ‘ritual’ enclosure is hiding in the middle of a massive boulder field. The high cliffs of Beinn Bhuidhe can be seen behind.

thelonious
thelonious Jul 6, 2016

Articles

Struidh

thelonious
thelonious Jul 6, 2016

28/06/2016 – This site caught my eye when I was looking for places to visit on Eigg. Location looked great from the map and the Canmore classification of ‘Ritual Enclosure (prehistoric)’ sounded pretty intriguing. So on our first full day on Eigg, off we went to see if we could find it.

Two ways to this one, from the north or from the south – east is the sea and west are the cliffs of Beinn Bhuidhe. We walked in from the north. There is no path this way and at this time of year the bracken is bad. Easier from the south, access to the ground below the cliffs is at Bealach Clith. An OK-ish path heads north for a mile or so but then it’s again like from the north, just a case of bashing through the bracken. As you near the site, the whole place becomes one massive boulder field. You have to really watch your step. Finding the site proved tricky (even with GPS) as it’s in the middle of this boulder field. Some of the boulders are huge!

I didn’t know what to make of the enclosure surrounding the underground chamber really. Again the bracken didn’t help with trying to make out the structure (I’ll put a link to HES, which gives a full description, below and also Canmore which has some nice diagrams and photos)

The entrance to the underground void isn’t too bad but you have to watch your head on the roof. Inside the space is good and it extends a fair way. It’s a bit of a shock after a few hours of walking in the sunshine in an open landscape to suddenly be in darkness in such a small space relative to the outside world. After a while it felt peaceful and we both liked it very much. Lots of limpet shells on the floor near the entrance left by something or someone.

Overall I found the place a mystery and it was wonderful for that. Hard to get to and then find, especially at this time of year but if you are ever on Eigg it’s worth the trip, I’d love to read others’ thoughts on the place. Worth the walk just to be in such an amazing landscape for the day.

Sites within 20km of Struidh

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