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Lochan na Lairige shieling group is a cluster of temporary pastoral dwellings situated in Perthshire, Scotland. The site comprises the characteristic low-stone foundations and turf-built structures typical of shielings, the seasonal settlements used by Highland communities for transhumance grazing during summer months. These modest stone-walled buildings, often measuring just a few metres across, would have housed herders and their families during the upland pastoral season, from roughly May to September, before livestock and people returned to permanent settlements in the glens below.
The shieling group occupies ground developed on the Argyll Group bedrock, a Neoproterozoic sequence of metamorphic rocks comprising psammite, semipelite and pelite. This ancient geological foundation, formed over 600 million years ago, provides the upland terrain characteristic of the Scottish Highlands, with the durable metamorphic stones having historically supplied material for the shielings' construction.
The site is protected by Historic Environment Scotland under the designation SM10411. Such shieling groups, once widespread across the Highlands, represent an important but now largely abandoned aspect of traditional Scottish land use and pastoral economy. Archaeological evidence from shieling sites contributes significantly to understanding medieval and post-medieval Highland settlement patterns and the seasonal movements of people and livestock that shaped the landscape.
Lochan na Lairige, shieling group E of is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM10411. View the official record →
Lochan na Lairige shieling group is a cluster of temporary pastoral dwellings situated in Perthshire, Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM10411.
Lochan na Lairige, shieling group E 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 SM10411.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Leacann Ghlasa,shielings 1000m NW of (1.6 km), Burn of Edramucky,shielings and roadways 600m W of Leacann Ghlasa (2.2 km), Airigh a' Choire Ghlais, shielings (2.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Lochan na Lairige, shieling group E 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.
Lochan na Lairige, shieling group E of stands on Argyll Group, bedrock that formed in the Neoproterozoic. The rock here is psammite, semipelite and pelite.