Field Visit
Date February 2018 - March 2018
Event ID 1089603
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1089603
NN 13287 27626 A walkover assessment was undertaken,
February – March 2018, complemented by historic map
and documentary research, of selected areas of the wooded
landscape around Kilchurn Castle (PIC080), originally a
property of the Earls of Breadalbane. The objective was to
enhance the understanding of the properties relationship
with the diverse wooded landscape around the N end of Loch
Awe, including both economic and aesthetic aspects.
Four distinct areas were assessed: Kilchurn Castle and its
peninsula; Portbeg and the oak woodlands at Kinachreachan;
Ardteatle historic township and environs; and The Pass of
Brander oakwoods.
The wood on the castle peninsula is a semi-natural wet
wood, dominated by willow, with the grown-out remnants of
a hedge on its E side. Loch water levels are lower now than
in the past, and the castle knoll would have been an island
when it was in use. To the E of the castle at Portbeg, on the
E loch shore, historically the castle’s mains farm, there are
several historic plantations with enclosing dykes, including
an attractive loch-side beech knoll of probable 18th-century
origin, and a number of old oak plantations. The latter are
not on Roy’s mid-18th-century map, but are on the 1st Edition
OS 6" map, and therefore originate in the late 18th or early
19th century. LiDAR survey by HES assisted in tracing the
plantation dykes and other archaeological features in areas
where they were hidden within dense modern conifer stands.
The Ardteatle area, further S on the E shore, has many
interesting veteran trees around the ruined settlement
remains, to the E of the Old Military Road, including an
ancient gean probably planted on the yard dyke of a now
ruinous cottage. Nearby, just W of that old road, is a quite
different enclosure in which massive old open-grown oaks,
recently made visible by the felling of the modern conifers
planted into them, indicate the possible location of the Earl’s
17th-century park, mentioned in the estate records as being
established at Ardteatle then. Many of the oaks have massive
fused multiple stems, indicative of graze-damaged coppice
and are an important biocultural survival.
On the W side of the loch, close to the castle, there are
extensive relict wood pastures, including a particularly diverse
one on the steep slopes at Creag a’ Chuil, where the ancient
trees are interspersed with traces of settlement and possible
charcoaling platforms. Among the tree types present are treeform
hazels, like the famous examples at Glen Finglas. A little
further S, at Coille Leitire, above the railway line, there is
extensive old oak coppice, with many more better-preserved
charcoal platforms. These woods would have fed fuel to
Bonawe and the other iron furnaces in the area in the 18th and
19th centuries. The HWA evidence highlights the continued use
and development of the estate’s wooded landscape elements
after the occupation of the castle ceases in the mid-18th century.
Archive: NRHE (intended). Report: Angus HER
Funder: Historic Environment Scotland
Coralie Mills and Peter Quelch – Dendrochronicle for CFA
Archaeology Ltd
(Source: DES, Volume 19)
