Cleigh 1 & 2

Nearest town:
Oban (4km WNW)
OS reference:
NM88112607
OS sheet:
49
Latitude:
56° 22' 45.7 N
Longitude:
5° 25' 56.06 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Cleigh 1 & 2 (Cairn(s)) by drewbhoy

NM 8809 2609 closer look at the surviving kerb, cows still behind giving me an occasional push in the back.

Image credit: drew/AMJ
drewbhoy
drewbhoy Jul 21, 2022
Image of Cleigh 1 & 2 (Cairn(s)) by drewbhoy

NM 8809 2609 looking straight south, to the north various types of wee cows.

Image credit: drew/AMJ
drewbhoy
drewbhoy Jul 21, 2022
Image of Cleigh 1 & 2 (Cairn(s)) by drewbhoy

NM 8809 2609 south west part, there is a kerb still in place.

Image credit: drew/AMJ
drewbhoy
drewbhoy Jul 21, 2022
Image of Cleigh 1 & 2 (Cairn(s)) by drewbhoy

NM 8809 2609 slightly to the north west of its bigger neighbour, same wee highland cow.

Image credit: drew/AMJ
drewbhoy
drewbhoy Jul 21, 2022
Image of Cleigh 1 & 2 (Cairn(s)) by drewbhoy

NM 8811 2607 The shelled out cairn has a feel of a henge, this inquisitive wee Highland Cow followed me around with chums close behind.

Image credit: drew/AMJ
drewbhoy
drewbhoy Jul 21, 2022
Image of Cleigh 1 & 2 (Cairn(s)) by drewbhoy

NM 8811 2607 Looking north east, at the bottom of the slope is Loch Nell.

Image credit: drew/AMJ
drewbhoy
drewbhoy Jul 20, 2022
Image of Cleigh 1 & 2 (Cairn(s)) by drewbhoy

NM 8811 2607 Looking east towards Tom Donn, the cairn must have been huge, almost 32m wide.

Image credit: drew/AMJ
drewbhoy
drewbhoy Jul 20, 2022

Articles

Cleigh 1 & 2

drewbhoy
drewbhoy Jul 21, 2022

From the cairn at Kilmore House I headed north following the minor road past the junction to head towards Loch Nell. About 500 meters from the junction there is a gate, jump this and head south west. After having avoiding all sorts of bog to earlier sites, this time it was unavoidable, also add in a fence or two and a couple of wee burns. However a way was found and I remained reasonably dry.

NM 8811 2607

The largest of the two cairns still sits at over 31m wide and in some parts over 1m tall. Sadly the centre of the cairn has been mostly houked or quarried away, field clearence has been dumped on its perimeter and any discoveries found in a cist long since lost. All that remains of the cist are two slabs.

With me looking around around I became the centre of attraction for some young cows including the Highland variety. They had fun nudging me around, including a few short metres to the north west.

NM 8809 2609

Complete with my ever growing entourage I walked the few metes to the second cairn. Disagreeing with Canmore, I spy at least 1 kerb still in place and another 2 can be felt beneath the grass. Cairn material can be seen on top. Sitting at over 7m and approaching 1m tall it hasn’t taken the same punishment as its nearby friend.

Speaking of friends, the cows especially one small highland cow had obviously taken a liking to nudging me around. Great fun for them and for me, except the horns which gave reason for concern.

There are two more cairns nearby but ground to them was virtually a shallow loch such was the rain the Oban area’s recent weather, so I decided to climb the fence and head back to the minor road. However my attempts to stay ‘reasonably’ dry were thwarted by a head butt to the backside by the pictured highland cow. This made sure I landed on the other side far quicker than intended and also ensured I lost my footing to basically run straight into a small burn – knee deep.

With that I splodged back to the road, emptied the boots and rinsed the socks to continue the walk to Loch Nell. I’m sure I heard laughing cows in the distance 1-0 to them.

Visited 08/07/2022.

Sites within 20km of Cleigh 1 & 2

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