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Clais Garbh is a shieling group located 1660 metres west of Groddie Cottage in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Shielings were seasonal settlements used by pastoral communities for cattle herding and dairy production, typically occupied during the summer months when livestock were moved to upland grazing grounds. This particular group occupies moorland underlain by mafic igneous rock of Silurian age, geological formations characteristic of the Scottish Highlands that create well-drained, though nutrient-poor, ground suitable for hardy mountain pastures.
The site sits within landscape that would have supported transhumance—the seasonal movement of herds between lowland and highland pastures—a practice that dominated Highland pastoral economy for centuries. The upland location at Clais Garbh, combined with its proximity to better-watered lowland ground near Groddie, suggests the settlement exploited this vertical resource zonation typical of shieling systems throughout the north-east Highlands.
Clais Garbh is protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM11474, recognising its archaeological importance as evidence of traditional Highland land use and settlement patterns. The site contributes to understanding the seasonal economies and social structures of Aberdeenshire's pastoral communities during the medieval and early modern periods.
Clais Garbh, shieling group 1660m W of Groddie Cottage is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM11474. View the official record →
Clais Garbh is a shieling group located 1660 metres west of Groddie Cottage in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM11474.
Clais Garbh, shieling group 1660m W of Groddie Cottage 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 SM11474.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Groddie Cottage, shielings 2520m, 2630m and 2700m WNW of (1.1 km), Ardan Breac, shielings 2780m WNW of Balgrennie (1.2 km), Newe's Craig, still 3950m NE of Morven Lodge (2.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Clais Garbh, shieling group 1660m W of Groddie Cottage'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.
Clais Garbh, shieling group 1660m W of Groddie Cottage stands on Unnamed Igneous Intrusion, Ordovician To Silurian, bedrock that formed in the Silurian. The rock here is mafic igneous-rock.