by Roland Spencer-Jones
This remote loch is far from any normal vehicular access. The boundary between Attadale and Pait estates runs roughly SW-NE through the middle of the loch. Approach routes to the loch are from Pait on Loch Monar to the NE, Attadale towards the head of Loch Carron in the W, and Killilan via Strath Duilleach and the Iron Lodge to the SW. There are three islands in the loch, two of which are of interest.
Historic Environment Scotland’s Canmore (ID 12075) and Highland Council Historic Environment Record (MHG44808 [Causeway] & MHG7444 [the island itself]) both describe the same features of a possibly artificial island in the southern part of Loch an Cladaidh. It is linked to a promontory on the south shore by two causeways to the SW and the NE.
The two historical references to this possible crannog are:
Odo Blundell’s 1913 paper: Further Notes on the Artificial Islands in the Highland Area. PSAS, vol XLVII, p 281: The Gead Loch. He quotes correspondence with a local minister, the Rev. D. Mackay, Marydale, Strathglass who reports: “In this loch, which is just across the boundary between Ross-shire and Inverness-shire there are two entirely artificial islands, one of them with an evident causeway to the shore”. Ordnance Survey visit by (NKB) 24th October 1966: There are no crannogs on An Gead Loch, but at NH 0955 3797 about 15.0m from the S shore of Loch an Tachdaidh, there is a natural island 40.0 by 26.0m and 2.0m high, connected to the mainland by a well-defined causeway 3.5m. wide and protruding about 0.2m above the surface. There are no structures on the island.
As described above, Blundell recorded local knowledge of two crannogs in 1913 in An Gead Loch, which the OS names as the loch just to the north-east of Loch an Tachdaich, separated from it by a short river. However, local tradition calls all three lochs here “The Gead Lochs”. There are no potential crannogs in the OS’s An Gead Loch, so it is fair to assume that the islands in Loch an Tachdaidh are the ones to which Blundell refers.
The 1966 OS survey report states that the island 15m from the south-east shore is natural but the causeway to it is man made. After investigating it, that is our conclusion too. The island towards the SE shore of the loch is centred at NH 09580 37988, with two causeways:
- Southwest Causeway – NW end: NH 09572 37970, SE end: NH 09585 37958
- Eastern Causeway – NW end: NH 09595 37987, SE end: NH 09612 37978
Under the auspices of NOSAS’s Crannog Project, a small team (Roland Spencer-Jones, Steve North, Glenn Wilks and Richard Guest) visited Loch an Tachdaidh on 3rd July 2023, a day which despite the forecast provided persistent moderate to heavy rain! Transport was kindly provided by the landowner of Pait estate – landing craft from Monar Lodge (at upper end of Glen Strathfarrar) to Pait Lodge; Argo Cat transport from Pait Lodge to Loch an Tachdaidh.
The shore of the loch was about 100m from the track down steep boggy ground. The loch level was high following two weeks of frequent rain. Two causeways were found to connect the crannog to the south-east shore (records only refer to one causeway) but both were under water for most of their length, to a depth of about 0.5m at the deepest. The surface of the crannog is covered by deep spongy vegetation overlying peat, with no stone visible except around the waterline. The causeways appear to be of artificial construction, consisting of mainly regular sized stones of a size which could be manhandled.
Snorkelling around the island, the surrounding water was found to be very shallow, no more than 1m deep. The loch bed for the most part consisted of small stones – pebbles – in a silty matrix, with occasional larger stones. The exception was around the west to north-west sector where the bed consists of very large boulders, possibly bedrock. The water was so shallow that scuba gear was not required.
The island consisted of stones of a fairly regular size, easily manhandled, similar to the causeway and it is possible to see a definite boundary between the pebbly loch bed and the stone pile of the island. This would tend to support the theory that part of the island, at least, is of artificial construction. However, this distinction is lost in the west to north-west sector where some of the large boulders break surface. Here the stones on the shore are also of a larger size, too heavy for an individual to lift but not so large they could not be manoeuvred into place using levers. Some of the larger stones on the water’s edge in this sector seemed to follow a line, as though they had been deliberately placed. This sector is less convincingly man-made than the rest.
No artifacts or timber were seen under water or on the island.
In conclusion, it is possible that a small natural island existed at the west corner of the current island, maybe only a few boulders above the surface. A relatively small amount of imported stone would be necessary to enhance this to form a crannog in the very shallow water. The peat may have built up since the crannog went out of use but the very presence of peat on the surface does cast doubt on whether this is an artificial construction. It was speculated that the dual causeways may have formed a pond to store fish caught elsewhere.
The landowner rowed the author over to the small round island near the N shore. This may be the other possible crannog mentioned by Blundell’s correspondent in 1913. Centred at NH 09426 38270, it consists of a dome-shaped heavily vegetated island with a regular arrangement of stones on the SE aspect. Scattered stones in the water to the N suggest a possible causeway. Above the water it appears to be artificial and so worthy of further underwater exploration. This will require two divers with full diving equipment. There are logistical issues involved but nevertheless the hope is that this can be arranged for Spring 2024.
Previous posts about NOSAS’s crannog project can be read here, here and here.
NOSAS Archaeology Blog 