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Airigh a' Choire Ghlais is a shieling, a traditional seasonal settlement used for pastoral farming in the Scottish Highlands. Located in Perthshire, this monument represents the summer upland economy that sustained rural communities for centuries. The site lies on bedrock of the Argyll Group, a Neoproterozoic sequence of metamorphic rocks comprising psammite, semipelite and pelite, which characterises much of the wider landscape and would have shaped both settlement location and pastoral movement patterns in this upland terrain.
Shielings like Airigh a' Choire Ghlais typically consist of small stone-built structures and associated enclosures, positioned at higher elevations where summer pasture was available for grazing cattle and sheep. Communities would migrate seasonally to such sites, exploiting resources inaccessible during winter months. The name itself, in Scottish Gaelic, references the corrie and its grey waters, anchoring the settlement within the specific topography and resources of this location.
The monument is protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM10721, recognising its significance as evidence of traditional Highland land use and settlement patterns. Shielings remain important archaeological witnesses to seasonal transhumance practices and the social organisation of rural communities before large-scale nineteenth-century changes to Highland society and land management.
Airigh a' Choire Ghlais, shielings is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM10721. View the official record →
Airigh a' Choire Ghlais is a shieling, a traditional seasonal settlement used for pastoral farming in the Scottish Highlands. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM10721.
Airigh a' Choire Ghlais, shielings is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic Environment Scotland — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Scotland. The official designation reference is SM10721.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Burn of Edramucky,shielings and roadways 600m W of Leacann Ghlasa (4.3 km), Creag na Caillich,stone axe working site (4.7 km), Leacann Ghlasa, peat stores, buildings and trackway (4.9 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Airigh a' Choire Ghlais, shielings's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Airigh a' Choire Ghlais, shielings stands on Argyll Group, bedrock that formed in the Neoproterozoic. The rock here is psammite, semipelite and pelite.