Auchoish

Nearest town:
Lochgilphead (4km SW)
OS reference:
NR870911
OS sheet:
55
Latitude:
56° 3' 54.49 N
Longitude:
5° 25' 19.49 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Auchoish (Chambered Cairn) by GLADMAN

Looking down the cairn to the lateral chamber..

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 3, 2018
Image of Auchoish (Chambered Cairn) by GLADMAN

Looking across the lateral chamber to the main body of the cairn.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 3, 2018
Image of Auchoish (Chambered Cairn) by GLADMAN

Another angle upon the lateral chamber

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 3, 2018
Image of Auchoish (Chambered Cairn) by GLADMAN

Looking across the main chamber to the façade.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 3, 2018
Image of Auchoish (Chambered Cairn) by GLADMAN

Looking across the façade and forecourt...

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 3, 2018
Image of Auchoish (Chambered Cairn) by GLADMAN

Another, fallen, façade stone is foreground.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 3, 2018
Image of Auchoish (Chambered Cairn) by GLADMAN

Times have changed since Greywether came here.... I struggled to find the site, eventually managing to do so by heading for the local high point and taking a compass bearing from there.... forcing my way through the dense clad trees. But it was worth it. A magnificent chambered cairn with façade and lateral chamber.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 3, 2018
Image of Auchoish (Chambered Cairn) by greywether

The NE end of the cairn showing the remains of the forecourt and the area where the axial chamber would have been. The back slab of the chamber remains.

The forecourt has a squarish look rather than crescentic. 8.m x 3m.

greywether
greywether Jun 3, 2004
Image of Auchoish (Chambered Cairn) by greywether

Lateral chamber from SE.

Three compartments with the division between the outer and central represented by half of what has been described as a porthole arrangement.

greywether
greywether Jun 3, 2004
Image of Auchoish (Chambered Cairn) by greywether

Long view showing how closely planted the forestry is.

This is approximately what you see after emerging from Achnabreck.

greywether
greywether Jun 3, 2004

Articles

Auchoish

GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 30, 2018

I’m sure Stephen Hawking – now of course occupying his rightful niche between Mr Newton and Mr Darwin in eternity (although why we have the remains of two exceptional atheists within Westminster Abbey is, er, rather puzzling) – would’ve been able to forward a convincing theory as to where the time goes... however it’s 17 years since I first ventured forth into the verdant Kilmartin Glen, a more-or-less megalithic illiterate seduced into undertaking the nightmare-inducing drive from Essex by the siren call of Mr Cope’s garishly coloured tome. A lot of water has flowed under both the allegorical bridge and that which connects my home island to the mainland in the interim; however one aspect of my life that has proved pretty constant is the compulsion to seek out new places associated with those pioneers responsible for laying the foundations of the – admittedly ‘wobbly’ – edifice we call civilisation.

So yes, while the great linear grouping of monuments gracing the glen will rightly take precedent for newcomers, the periphery exerts a far greater attraction for me nowadays. I mean, with time so limited why repeat oneself when there is so much more to discover? Such as the Auchoish chambered cairn where all but Greywethers fear to tread. It is therefore with a fair degree of irony that, following an overnighter beside the mighty Loch Awe, I note, upon perusing the map, that an approach to said chambered cairn will mean passing the tourist honeypot that constitutes the Achnabreck rock art panels. Hey, but while I’m here.... guess it would be pedantic, if not downright rude not to have a look. What can you do?

Furthermore it is doubly – nay, trebly – ironic that, despite consciously avoiding the goddam place for all these years, I duly find myself captivated by the beguiling, swirling, circular motifs and depressions carved into the naked rock. Touch, arguably that most sensual of senses, confirms the growing feeling that executing such designs must’ve been a very time consuming process indeed. And then some. A serious undertaking surely only justifiable by a correspondingly high accepted ‘worth’ of the finished ‘product’. Hell, this art must’ve really meant something. OK, no doubt the (almost) complete absence of other punters this overcast, drizzly morning lent a positive cadence to the silent symphony playing out within my head... but even so, isn’t it great to have such specific preconceptions proven so emphatically wrong in such an overwhelmingly affirmative manner? Yeah, I can handle that.

So.… moving on I pick up the forestry track heading east. Now stomping along such tracks – while not my favourite of pastimes – does have compensations, such as the clean scent of pine pervading the muggy, moist atmosphere; appealing enough in lieu of a fragrance of a more deciduous origin. Or Chanel No.5 in the nape of a woman’s neck. Sadly the compensations do not extend to a chat with Keith Flint... well, seeing as a notice informs the traveller this is also the ‘Twisted Fire Starter’ mountain bike trail. But there you are. To be fair the unusually coiffured gentleman did appear rather athletic performing within the video back in the day; but then again we are all inexorably advancing in years, are we not? And ‘Breathe’ was by far a better tune. The route duly swings abruptly south before veering north (thankfully conflagrations are not in evidence), passing an old quarry prior to crossing the Auchoish Burn where one should select the left hand fork.

Unfortunately things now get a bit complicated (I won’t say ‘interesting’ upon the assumption that disciples of Donatien Alphonse François tend not to favour seeking out Neolithic chambered cairns upon Scottish hillsides) the monument being located ‘somewhere’ upon the thickly afforested rise to the right. According to the 1:25K OS map matters should be straightforward enough; however the trees are so dense that an attempt to head straight to the tomb on a compass bearing is a non-starter. Consequently I head further along the track before making a very rough ascent to the highest ground in the locale and taking a bearing from there. This allows me to pick up the heavily overgrown run depicted upon the map and, knee deep in mud, systematically force my way through to the monument within its clearing. Brute force is not something to be admired. However sometimes needs must.

It is immediately apparent that all this effort is so, so worthwhile: the elongated ‘Clyde’ cairn is aligned on a SW/NE axis with the significant remains of a façade/forecourt to north-east... a number of the orthostats still standing before the hollow ghost of a chamber, albeit with traces of stone work also to be seen within the latter. For me, however, it is the relatively well preserved lateral chamber subsumed within the lower, south-western section of the substantial cairn that represents the structural pièce de résistance. Greywether reckons there could even be a rare ‘porthole’ stone in situ. Didn’t realise at the time, but in retrospect I’m not going to disagree with the suggestion since there are definitely two segments here with curiously shaped dividing stones.

However at a fundamental level the primary motivation to visit sites such as Auchoish is surely the response to the question ‘how does it make me feel to be here?’ Hence the discerning Citizen Cairn’d will surely wish to make the effort to come for the – in my opinion – truly exceptional vibe further enhanced by the site’s isolation from the general (relative) hubbub of the area. Yeah, unlike the arguably over manicured monuments within Kilmartin Glen itself the silence here is absolute, a serenity so total the atmosphere is electric. If you excuse the oxymoron.

Despite the drizzle-laden cloud sweeping, quite literally, through the treeline according optimum conditions for the midge – that wee awful woman aside – Scotland’s most appalling inhabitant, I stay for approx three hours before retracing my steps. A diversion to the enigmatic, moss-clad remains of Dun Na Maraig ensures I reach the car in no fit state to do anything but sleep. To be fair a man can ask for no further reward from a day pottering around in the damp forest: obscure chambered cairn, hill fort and.... well …. how does one begin to describe, to attempt to decipher the meaning inherent in those symbols? Then again, perhaps it is best that we never do so. That we simply allow them to inspire that symphony in the head?

Auchoish

greywether
greywether Jun 3, 2004

This reasonably well preserved Clyde cairn can be visited by extending a trip to Achnabreck.

An interesting feature of the cairn is the possible existence of a porthole between two compartments in the lateral chamber.

Enjoyment of the site is considerably reduced by the forestry having planted so close to the cairn especially at the forecourt end. There are extensive views out over the rear of the cairn to the SW which will eventually be obscured as the new plantation grows.

To get to the cairn, follow the track past the two Achnabreck sites until it reaches the forest road then turn right.

Visited 12 May 2004

Sites within 20km of Auchoish

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