Port Sonachan

Also known as:
Carn Ban and Portsonachan
Nearest town:
Inveraray (12km SSE)
OS reference:
NN050207
OS sheets:
50, 56
Latitude:
56° 20' 18.14 N
Longitude:
5° 9' 18.54 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Port Sonachan (Chambered Cairn) by GLADMAN

Looking down upon Loch Awe from the monument... there are apparently (according to the map) a pair of cairns upon the far shore at North Port.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 21, 2015
Image of Port Sonachan (Chambered Cairn) by GLADMAN

Emphasising the fabulous landscape setting from the hill side to SE.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 21, 2015
Image of Port Sonachan (Chambered Cairn) by GLADMAN

Ben Cruachan fills the horizon beyondLoch awe

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 10, 2010
Image of Port Sonachan (Chambered Cairn) by GLADMAN

Awestruck perched above Loch Awe. How apt is that?

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 10, 2010
Image of Port Sonachan (Chambered Cairn) by GLADMAN

Towards mighty Ben Cruachan. Hard to believe it harbours a major hydro-electric power system! [note the pylons just visible on either bank, middle distance]

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 10, 2010
Image of Port Sonachan (Chambered Cairn) by GLADMAN

The loch from inside the chamber. Not your ordinary view, it has to be said.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 10, 2010
Image of Port Sonachan (Chambered Cairn) by GLADMAN

A small boat leaves its wake across Loch Awe... from the chambered tomb.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 10, 2010

Articles

Port Sonachan

GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 10, 2010

‘This could be the best-located chambered cairn in Scotland’.... so says Greywether. Who’s been to a few, it must be said. Having spent a wonderful morning at this gorgeous site, I can only agree, with the added caveat ‘of those I’ve seen to date’. Rest assured, if there are any better placed megalithic monuments, let me at ‘em!

Blimey, can a man really ask for more than what is on offer here? At least within the bounds of a family web-site that is. Perched upon a crag overlooking the Port Sonachan hotel, where punters sit enjoying a coffee with ‘panoramic views of Loch Awe’, the panoramic views enjoyed by this megalithically-minded traveller are in a totally different league altogether. The coffee’s pretty good as well, made with water from a stream just down the road... Truly stunning, the mirror-smooth surface of the loch is broken by an occasional pleasure boat leaving a prominent ‘V’ wake in its, er.... wake, whilst the massive bulk of Ben Cruachan dominates the upper reaches behind me.

So, that’s the view, then. But what about the chambered cairn itself? Pleased to report that it is, in fact, quite substantial, with one nice – albeit capstone-less – chamber within the remnants of a cairn, plus hints of the previous existance of more. In short, well worth the effort of climbing up here for its own sake, never mind the exquisite position chosen for it by its builders.

Needless to say no-one else arrives to break the vibe and, to be honest, I’m not even sure the smokers having a ‘crafty fag’ outside the hotel can even see me from down below. As G notes, the hotel is the key to a visit to this obscure site. The track opposite immediate splits in opposite directions... take the left fork and climb until just before a small building, veering uphill to the right here beneath pylons. Cross the fenceline at it’s left-hand extremity and ascend, steeply, straight uphill, heading right near a round water tank. The monument is upon the rocky crag above you.

Port Sonachan

greywether
greywether Jun 8, 2004

Whoever chose to bury their dead here had a good eye for location. This could be the best-located chambered cairn in Scotland.

Sitting on the 110m contour above Loch Awe, the E end of the cairn faces the Cruachan Hills.

No surviving chamber at the E though but this area has been disturbed by later building and there are some orthostat-like stones lying around.

There is a good chamber at the W end with most of its feature still visible.

Great spot. Took far too many photos and left reluctantly.

Park just N of the hotel. Take the track opposite N first then follow the telegraph wires to the wall. Climb the wall and continue on that line up hill. Steep but short.

Visited 29 April 2004

Sites within 20km of Port Sonachan

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