Skye, Glen Ollisdal
Bothy (20th Century) (1985), Shepherds Cottage (19th Century)
Site Name Skye, Glen Ollisdal
Classification Bothy (20th Century) (1985), Shepherds Cottage (19th Century)
Canmore ID 10779
Site Number NG23NW 10
NGR NG 21287 39399
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/10779
- Council Highland
- Parish Duirinish
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Skye And Lochalsh
- Former County Inverness-shire
NG23NW 10 2129 3940
On the east bank of the River Ollisdal at a height of 91m OD is a well maintained two-compartment long-house which has recently been converted into a mountain bothy. Rig cultivation and clearance cairns are visible all around.
Information from C Swanson and A Johnstone, 7 April 1989.
Note (28 June 2022)
NG23NW 10 NG 21287 39399
The former shepherd’s house, now a bothy, at Ollisdal is situated in one of the remote glens to the S of Macleod’s Tables, 5.8km SW of the nearest public road at Orabost. These glens (Dibidal, Ollisdal and Lorgasdall) have Scandinavian names and in each are preserved the extensive traces of settlement, agriculture and peat cutting which pre-date their 19th century use as sheep walks.
Three roofed buildings and adjacent enclosures are depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Inverness-shire, sheet xxvii, 1881). The contemporary OS Name Book described Glen Ollisdal as ‘...under sheep and affords good pasture and is the property of Mr. Robinson of Greshornish. There is a shepherd’s house here which is one storey and thatched and occupied by a shepherd and his family, there is a foot track ... which is in some places scarcely traceable’ (Inverness-shire (Skye), No. 6, p. 94).
A roofed building labelled ‘Ollisdal Bothy’, six unroofed buildings and the remains of a field system are depicted on current edition of the OS (GIS) Mastermap.
In Glen Ollisdal post-medieval agriculture was concentrated in an area of around 18 hectares on either side of the river, with smaller patches on the coast (NG23NW 4; NG23NW 1). In the main it is characterised by broad and sinuous ridges or lazy beds that have been cultivated by hand, examples of which can be seen just 50m to the N and W of the bothy. These plots are enclosed within a series of banks and head dykes which have been developed piecemeal, their irregular plan reflecting the continual contraction and expansion of the settlement over many years. While the bothy at Ollisdal is a 19th century building, earlier pre-clearance dwellings survive elsewhere in the glen (e.g. NG23NW 6; NG23NW 7).
Information from HES Archaeological Survey (G F Geddes) 28 June 2022
(Allan 2017, 288-9)
