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The Depopulated Township 400m SE of Balloan is a deserted settlement in Inverness-shire, Scotland, protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland. The site lies upon Moine Supergroup semipelite, bedrock formed during the Neoproterozoic and shaped by the intense tectonic forces that built the Scottish Highlands. This geology produces thin, acidic soils typical of the upland regions where such abandoned settlements are commonly found.
Highland townships of this type were small farming communities organised around clusters of dwellings, shared grazing and arable land, and communal structures. The landscape around Balloan would have supported crofting and pastoralism, though the sparse vegetation and exposed moorland visible today reflect the challenging conditions settlers endured. Such settlements were gradually depopulated from the 18th century onwards through a combination of agricultural changes, clan reorganisation and emigration.
The remains of this township survive as earthwork features within the moorland landscape, their precise configuration and building phases preserved within the ground. The monument's scheduled status recognises its value as physical evidence of Highland settlement patterns and land use practices now vanished from the living landscape. It remains an important record of how communities adapted to, and ultimately withdrew from, this demanding terrain.
Depopulated township, 400m SE of Balloan is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM11549. View the official record →
The Depopulated Township 400m SE of Balloan is a deserted settlement in Inverness-shire, Scotland, protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM11549.
Depopulated township, 400m SE of Balloan 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 SM11549.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Milton of Tordarroch, fort 800m S of (1 km), Glen Nairn, hut circle 270m ENE of (1.4 km), Creagan an Tuirc, fort (3.5 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Depopulated township, 400m SE of Balloan'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.
Depopulated township, 400m SE of Balloan stands on Moine Supergroup, bedrock that formed in the Neoproterozoic. The rock here is semipelite.