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Tordarroch

Clava Cairn

<b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by drewbhoyImage © drew/hg
Nearest Town:Inverness (12km NNW)
OS Ref (GB):   NH681335 / Sheet: 26
Latitude:57° 22' 22.31" N
Longitude:   4° 11' 37.28" W


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Photographs:<b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by thelonious <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by drewbhoy <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by drewbhoy <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by drewbhoy <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by drewbhoy <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by drewbhoy <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by drewbhoy <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by drewbhoy <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by drewbhoy <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by postman <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by thesweetcheat <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by thesweetcheat <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by thesweetcheat <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by GLADMAN <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by thesweetcheat <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by GLADMAN <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by thesweetcheat <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by thesweetcheat <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by thesweetcheat <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by thesweetcheat <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by thesweetcheat <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by thesweetcheat <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by GLADMAN <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by GLADMAN <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by GLADMAN <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by GLADMAN <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by GLADMAN <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by GLADMAN <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by GLADMAN <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by GLADMAN <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by GLADMAN <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by GLADMAN <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by GLADMAN <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by GLADMAN <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by postman <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by postman <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by postman <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by postman <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by postman <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by greywether <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by greywether <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by greywether <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by greywether <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by Erik the Red <b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by Erik the Red Artistic / Interpretive:<b>Tordarroch</b>Posted by thesweetcheat

Fieldnotes

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Grrrr....! It's happened again. After somehow failing four years ago to locate the turning off the B-whatever it is this time I take a chance despite the 'road ahead closed' sign and as soon as I spot the small whitewashed church to my left I know I'm in the right place so I park there rather than risk driving on and finding my way barred at a tight turning-spot in this narrow lane. I soon see the monument away to my right but between it and me is a field containing what looks like a very large Highland bull. Fortunately by walking on a bit I find a gate into another field free of cattle and by following the right-hand edge (yes, I had read Gladman's very helpful fieldnotes) I attain my objective. It's horrendously overgrown (cf Torbreck/Lundin Farm/Gunnerkeld/Lamlash of my previous experience) as well as too-tightly fenced-in but I try hard to rein in any disappointment. I don't necessarily want every site I visit to be meticulously tended but it's just hard to reconcile what I'm looking at with the expectations garnered from most of the pictures posted here. Ah well, I'm pleased to have seen it but I leave with the wish that the landowner could spare a bit of effort better to maintain this precious relic. ironstone Posted by ironstone
20th September 2021ce

I guess it takes a pretty special site to follow such a gem as nearby Torbreck and - arguably - surpass it. There are a myriad factors to be taken into account, of course... all of them subjective. But, for me, Tordarroch not only rises to the challenge, but leaves it trailing in its wake with the arrogance of a megalithic Eric Cantona, so to speak. Yeah, this is one slumbering giant of a monument, if ever there was one. Needless to say, however, I very nearly don't get an audience..... having not purchased an OS map (and thus relying on a scribbled representation of the immediate locality) I struggle to orientate myself and somehow all but convince myself that Tordarroch and Mains of Gask are actually one and the same! Muppet. Well, there can't be two monuments that special so near to each other, can there? Er, yes. There can. In Strathnairn.

Look for the signpost to the church (of something or other - sorry I honestly can't recall) just north of Milton of Farr on the B851. Pass this whitewashed (ha!) building and park near a grey 5-bar gate a little beyond, on the left. To your right will be a red gate (currently featuring a 'bull in field' sign) with a pylon visible in the field beyond. Go through this red gate and, hugging the right hand field boundary to avoid any bull-related shite, the monument will soon be yours. It is worth the effort.

At first, however, this traveller is somewhat overwhelmed by the sheer volume of stones - both upright and fallen - to be seen here. What is going on? Burl, naturally, has the answers:-

"Even in ruin, this Clava ring-cairn is impressive. The big stone circle [yeah!] is in fair condition... with seven of perhaps eleven original stones standing... inside is a badly-ruined ring-cairn, a long arc of kerbstones fallen at the south and wide gaps at the east and north....Little remains of the cairn itself.... A large kerbstone, fallen outwards....has over thirty cupmarks on what would have been its inner face..."

So, large stone circle, ring cairn.... and rock art. Is there a reason not to come to Tordarroch? Well, the attitude of the landowner might be considered one for those of a nervous disposition. The monument is badly churned up by cattle, yet he has the temerity to insist visitors do not enter due to 'lambing' long since concluded. Short term profit more important than local heritage, perhaps? No, Tordarroch cannot be allowed to drift into obscurity... if only to ensure its survival people need to visit this dishevelled, battered beauty of a clava. Several of the circle stones remind me of Lewissian Gneiss in respect of their grain and texture.... and surely there can be no finer compliment? The kerb is thick set, featuring radial orthostats..... and then there is the fabulous cupmarked slab.

Yeah, I almost missed out on Tordarroch..... sure, that would have saved me yet another soaking. But it would also have cost me much, much more in terms of those intangible 'things' I believe we need to 'top up' on now and again in order to keep a perspective on life, you know?
GLADMAN Posted by GLADMAN
10th August 2011ce
Edited 12th August 2011ce

With a rainstorm raging and under the watchful eye of some rather large Highland cattle we found the Tordarroch ring cairn. It was very helpful to have a 1:25000 os map to find this clava ring-cairn. The outer stones, with a diameter 113ft and with 7 of the 11 visible stones still standing (graded to the s-sw), make this an impressive site; although the ring-cairn is in a sadly ruined state. The inner face of a fallen curb stone in the s-sw of the ring-cairn has 30 cup marks carved into it. Worth a visit as a 200yd walk will get you from the roadside to the centre of the circle, but it is also easily viewed from the road. Posted by Erik the Red
20th January 2005ce

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Tordarroch on BRAC


rockartuk Posted by rockartuk
15th January 2011ce
Edited 15th March 2014ce