drewbhoy

Head north from Stittenham on the B9176, then take the first minor road heading west.

There is a forestry track to the south of the entrance of Easter Baldoon, plenty room to park. Take the steep track down and up to the small farm. I asked permission to jump the fence and head north, once again the owner had no clue what I was talking about, the chamber cairn up beyond the fence only a few hundred metres away.

He didn’t know where or what the site was, he isn’t alone, others have confused the site to be a fort, it would be a very odd looking fort in an easily attacked place if attacking from the west, north and east.

The afternoon sun and the enhanced colour, because of the snow, made for an already impressive site. Eight stones are still standing, whilst I counted at least another eight fallen. Together they create the two impressive chambers of the Orkney / Cromarty site. Smaller cairn material has been recycled elsewhere but the footprint remains at almost 16m.

A superb site, in the must visit category!

Visited 03/01/2023.

The chamber cairn at Sittenham was badly robbed just like its neighbour at Stittenham Farm but at least its chamber remained. From the chamber cairn I went back to the road, back to place I parked but deciding to not use the skating rink aka the farm road I jumped the fence and headed south east. Remains of the cairn are behind a barn.

Once again a huge site, almost 33m wide has been reduced / robbed to almost nothing. A few kerbs remain in situ in what might have been a double kerb, these being in an circular side about 13m wide. The depression in the middle has been further depressed by the addition of field cleared boulders.

On a brighter note a guarding sheepdog was very well behaved and earned a sandwich. The bright spot in a ‘what if’ site.

Visited 03/01/2023.

After a good look round at Millcraig Chamber Cairn I headed back west and took the first minor road heading north which meets the B9176. Heading further north I parked in the skating rink entrance, it was winter after all, to Stittenham Farm.

Walk back down the B9176 to the sharp corner, jump the fence and follow the tree line for a short distance north then head east. The chamber cairn is in a small clearing.

I thought this a very beautiful place, the winter sun and snow helping give the place an optimistic vibe. As is usual in these parts it is an Orkney – Cromarty type cairn which has been severely robbed, only the chamber really remains of the once almost 12m wide site. Only the sides of the chamber can be seen, the capstone also having been removed.

Despite all of the robbing, a very wonderful site, the trees, the weather adding to its tranquil setting.

Visited 03/01/2023.

Millcraig or Nonikiln must have been a hugely impressive site originally but sadly it has been nearly robbed out of existence. The footprint or wooded area is 34m wide but it could have been up to 53m wide. There are a lot of dry stane dykes in the area, local dykers have recycled almost all of the cairn.

Several stones are near a massive slab in the North East part of the site, a stone still appears to stand in the far north east of the site but that is it as far as remains go.

A bit of a what if, but worth seeing if only to see the slab.

Take Ardross Road heading north out of Alness and take the first minor road heading east. The site is in the north east corner of a field slightly to the north and easily identified by the patch of trees.

Visited 03/01/2023.