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Allt Tobair Fhuair is a shielings site located in Aberdeenshire, some 3.3 kilometres west of Aldachuie. Shielings are temporary summer pastures established in upland areas to allow livestock herding during the grazing season, a practice widespread throughout the Scottish Highlands from medieval times into the 19th century. This site rests on bedrock formed from the Argyll Group, Neoproterozoic deposits of psammite, semipelite and pelite that characterise much of the Central Highlands geology.
The settlement would have provided seasonal shelter for herders tending cattle and sheep on the hill grazings surrounding the Allt Tobair Fhuair watercourse. Shielings typically comprised simple stone structures, often turf-roofed bothies, arranged within enclosed pasture grounds. The upland landscape of Aberdeenshire, with its reliable water sources and extensive rough grazing, made such transhumance systems economically viable for centuries.
The site is protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM11503, recognising its importance to understanding rural settlement patterns and pastoral farming in the Scottish Highlands. Shielings represent a now-vanished way of life, offering evidence of how communities managed upland resources and organised seasonal movement of livestock before modern farming transformed the Highlands.
Allt Tobair Fhuair, shielings 3270m W of Aldachuie is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM11503. View the official record →
Allt Tobair Fhuair is a shielings site located in Aberdeenshire, some 3.3 kilometres west of Aldachuie. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM11503.
Allt Tobair Fhuair, shielings 3270m W of Aldachuie 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 SM11503.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Meikle Fleuchat, shielings and enclosures 1060m SE of Shiel (3.6 km), Bressachoil farmstead, Glen Ernan (3.7 km), Relaquheim, farmstead 1090m W of, Glen Ernan (3.8 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Allt Tobair Fhuair, shielings 3270m W of Aldachuie'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.
Allt Tobair Fhuair, shielings 3270m W of Aldachuie stands on Argyll Group, bedrock that formed in the Neoproterozoic. The rock here is psammite, semipelite and pelite.