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Lochstrathy
Bothy (20th Century) (1997), Farmstead (19th Century), Gamekeepers House (19th Century)(Possible), Shepherds Cottage (19th Century)
Site Name Lochstrathy
Classification Bothy (20th Century) (1997), Farmstead (19th Century), Gamekeepers House (19th Century)(Possible), Shepherds Cottage (19th Century)
Canmore ID 346965
Site Number NC74NE 1
NGR NC 7935 4896
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/346965
- Council Highland
- Parish Farr
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Sutherland
- Former County Sutherland
Field Visit (2012)
A desktop survey was conducted as part of a management plan for a c8000ha area of existing forestry in North Sutherland and West Caithness. The following unrecorded archaeological sites were noted: NC 8055 5168 Sheepfold; NC 9885 4616 Sheepfold; NC 8197 5897 Cairn
; NC 9987 4515 Sheepfold; NC 8253 5924 Field system (possible); NC 9936 4436 Farmstead; NC 7935 4896 Farmstead; NC 9339 4292 Standing stone/cairn; NC 7983 5004 Sheepfold; ND 0092 4572 Farmstead; NC 8261 6027 Farmstead; ND 0086 4593 Sheepfold; NC 93865 47557 Sheepfold; ND 0863 4829 Farmstead;
Report: RCAHMS
Funder: Fountains Forestry Ltd
Stuart Farrell,
2012
Note (28 June 2022)
NC74NE 1 NC 79343 48972
This cottage, formerly a shepherd’s house, perhaps subsequently a gamekeeper’s house and now a bothy, is situated beside the River Strathy 2.1km NE of Loch Strathy and 7km E of the nearest public road in Strath Naver. It comprises a single range, which is depicted on the OS map surveyed in 1904 (Sutherland, sheet xxxvii, 1907), along with two outhouses and a garden attached on the NW side. Four kennels are shown near the river, one of which seems to occupy the location of an earlier building depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Sutherland, xxxvii, 1878). The 1st edition also shows large enclosures, presumably fields, along both sides of the river to the ENE of the buildings. A small enclosure of unknown purpose is depicted on the S bank of the river.
On the night of the 1881 Census ‘Lochstrathy’, presumably referring to the building that is now the bothy, was occupied by shepherd Angus MacKay (40), his wife Mary (40), and their children, Robert (13), Mary (11), John (8), Angus, (4), and Jessie (2). A list of specifications issued by Sutherland Estate in 1897 includes note of ‘Kennels, Loch Strathy’ (NLS, Inventory of Accession 10853, Sutherland Estate Papers).
A roofed building annotated 'Croft House (Bothy)' is depicted on the current edition of the OS 10,000 digital map.
Information from HES Archaeological Survey (D M Bratt) 28 June 2022
(Allan 2017, 60-1)
