The Clachan at Branault

Patient readers of The Diary will know of the author's interest in the history and archaeology of this area.  One of the things that is most fascinating is the early history of the local villages, much of which is lost in time.

From at least Viking times, most people in the remote areas of western Scotland and the islands lived in small, communal settlements called 'clachans'.  To read more about them, go to the Diary page here which has recently been updated and describes their development.  The stories of some of the local clachans (or 'touns') are available in the right-hand column of this blog, under the title 'W Ardnamurchan Histories'.

Since the clachans were effectively destroyed during the Clearance of the early nineteenth century, and since many of the buildings were made of perishable materials such as turfs and reeds, little remains of some of them, so finding their sites can be difficult.  It was therefore thrilling on Sunday to talk to someone whose local knowledge enabled two clachans to be, if not certainly found, at least probably found.  One was Branault.

Roy's map of 1747 clearly shows the settlement as a small, nucleated group of buildings.  His map is, for its time, a miracle of accuracy, but it's not clear exactly where the clachan stood, other than that it lay between the Achateny Water and the burn called Allt na Teanga.

A further clue comes from the first OS map of the area, completed in 1867, which shows a grouping of buildings at the southern end of the village.  It took the detailed and very perceptive knowledge of a long-time resident to confirm that this is very likely the site of the original clachan.  The next, very exciting task is to walk over the ground around Branault House and see what can be found of the clachan's remains.