Glendhu
Bothy (20th Century) (1999), Shepherds Cottage (19th Century)
Site Name Glendhu
Classification Bothy (20th Century) (1999), Shepherds Cottage (19th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Gleann Dubh
Canmore ID 372222
Site Number NC23SE 13
NGR NC 28311 33725
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/372222
- Council Highland
- Parish Eddrachillis
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Sutherland
- Former County Sutherland
Note (27 June 2022)
NC23SE 13 NC 28311 33725
This former shepherd’s house, now a bothy, is situated at the E end of Loch Gleann Dubh about 5.3km E of Kylesku. It stands to the W of a 19th century sheep farm comprising a farmhouse, outbuilding and sheep fank, all set within a large drystone enclosure. While the remains of what may be earlier activity have been noted 140m to the ENE (NC23SE 2), the cairns there may be associated with the use of the drystone enclosure for grazing.
The 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map shows four roofed buildings at Glendhu (Sutherland, sheet l, 1875), described at the time as a shepherd’s house (OS Name Book, Sutherland, No. 18, p. 85). By 1903, when the OS map was revised, the farmhouse and the bothy had been rebuilt to a different plan (Sutherland, sheet l, 1906).
On the night of the 1881 Census the buildings at Glendhu were occupied by three shepherds, John Elliot, George MacDonald and James Ross, two domestic servants, Johan and Mary Morrison, and a carrier, James MacKay. Elliot later moved to Glencoul (NC23SE 15) but his family returned to Glendhu in the 1950s.
A roofed building annotated 'Glendhu (Bothy)' is depicted on the current edition of the OS (GIS) Mastermap.
Information from HES Archaeological Survey (D M Bratt) 27 June 2022
(Allan 2017, 52-3)
