Coille na Borgie

Nearest town:
Thurso (41km ENE)
OS reference:
NC715590
OS sheet:
10
Latitude:
58° 30' 1.33 N
Longitude:
4° 12' 18.88 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Coille na Borgie (Chambered Tomb) by GLADMAN

The cairns from Auchinlochy.... suffice to say it took some will power to stick to my premise of not venturing upon them – and the fabulous Skelpick Long – again; however there was too much new stuff to see...

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 13, 2016
Image of Coille na Borgie (Chambered Tomb) by GLADMAN

Note the remains of the facade.... (rubbish tip is out of shot behind a traveller shaking his head at the local scum who would do this)

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jul 18, 2010
Image of Coille na Borgie (Chambered Tomb) by postman

The lesser cairn’s chamber with just one orthostat left. note all the broken glass and scrap metal

Image credit: Chris Bickerton
postman
postman Sep 24, 2007
Image of Coille na Borgie (Chambered Tomb) by postman

Looking up the passage into the chamber (honest)

Image credit: Chris Bickerton
postman
postman Sep 24, 2007
Image of Coille na Borgie (Chambered Tomb) by postman

Passage and chamber with megalithic forecourt

Image credit: Chris Bickerton
postman
postman Sep 24, 2007

Articles

Coille na Borgie

C
CARL Aug 19, 2014

Visited 23.7.14

Directions:
From Bettyhill on the A836 take the minor road south towards Skelpick. The cairn can be seen on the left (east) side of the road after about 1 mile. There is a small parking area with a sign which states ‘Strathnaver Trail 12’ and an adjacent information board.

The information board states that these are two long cairns (between 4,400 and 6,000 years BP) cut through by a cart track. A ‘path’ has been cut through the ferns taking you from the road to the cairns. Dafydd and I opted to go exploring whilst Karen and Sophie were content to watch Peppa Pig on the DVD player!

There is not too much to say about the northern cairn. It has been ruined and now only has one stone standing. The ruined cairn is covered in broken glass, bottles, rubbish and rust pieces of metal. What a shames.

The southern cairn is a different matter altogether – this really is a super site!
Despite being well hidden by chest high ferns, once discovered, it is great place to explore.

There are 5 façade stones still standing – 3 x 1m in height, 1 x 1.5m and 1 x 2m – (covered in ‘hairy lichen’ with a quartz section at the top). There are two cap stones in situ with the chamber open to the sky either side. The chamber is full of tall ferns and I was unable to crawl through the narrow passage which is about 1m high. Under the central capstone is a pair of stones which restrict the width of the passage. A further two ‘narrowing stones’ are located at the end of the passage but has no covering capstone.

I write these notes sat in the end of the chamber, surrounded by ferns and out of the hot glare of the sun. Looking down the passage I can see Dafydd battling away against the ferns!

This is a fantastic site to visit and now with the parking area, information board and path is very easy to access. Despite not being not too far away from the A836 the chambered tomb has a feeling of remoteness about it.
Visit if you can – you won’t be disappointed.

Coille na Borgie

postman
postman Sep 24, 2007

Right next to the small road at Skelpick, the biggest cairn is very impressive, still retaining a chamber and the forecourt is still in good nick too. The same can’t be said for the northern one though the chamber is all gone except for one orthostat and the area where it should be has been used as a rubbish dump. The southern cairn is still cool though, with good views up and down the the river Naver .

Coille na Borgie

greywether
greywether Dec 2, 2003

Remains of two (possibly three) chambered cairns. The S structure is the best preserved. The N structure may be two cairns back to back. Next to single track road but parking straightforward.

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