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Groat's Loch Cairn is a prehistoric burial monument located in Caithness in the far north of Scotland. The cairn stands on bedrock of Middle Old Red Sandstone, a sedimentary formation laid down during the Middle Devonian period approximately 380 million years ago, composed of conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone. This geological foundation provided readily available stone for cairn construction by Neolithic or Bronze Age communities who built and used the monument as a burial place, though the precise date of construction remains uncertain.
The cairn sits in the landscape 225 metres west-south-west of Groat's Loch itself, taking its name from this nearby body of water. The surrounding Caithness terrain, with its moorland and lochs, would have been inhabited by early pastoral and farming societies who constructed such monuments across northern Scotland. The cairn survives as evidence of these ancient practices and beliefs concerning the treatment and commemoration of their dead.
The monument is protected under Historic Environment Scotland's scheduling regime, reference SM4338, recognising its significance as an archaeological site. Its preservation allows future investigation into Bronze and Iron Age burial practices and settlement patterns in this region of the Highlands.
Groat's Loch, cairn 225m WSW of is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM4338. View the official record →
Groat's Loch Cairn is a prehistoric burial monument located in Caithness in the far north of Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM4338.
Groat's Loch, cairn 225m WSW of 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 SM4338.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Cairn Hanach,chambered cairn S side of Warehouse Hill (0.2 km), Broughwhin, cairn and stone row 190m NW of Groat's Loch (0.2 km), Cairn of Get, chambered cairn, cairns and cists (0.4 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Groat's Loch, cairn 225m WSW of'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.
Groat's Loch, cairn 225m WSW of stands on Middle Old Red Sandstone (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Middle Devonian. The rock here is conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.