Above Camas nan Geall - 2

As we continued our walk along the scarp that forms the northeast limit of The Basin (see earlier post here), the whole of Camas nan Geall came into view, spread out below us like a map. In the centre of this picture, just this side of the silage bales, is the walled churchyard with the standing stone at the far end, and, just visible at the far end of the line of trees, is the Neolithic chambered cairn. Less visible around the edges of the cultivated land are the remains of stone houses most of which, like the one at Tornamona, were in use after the bulk of the population had been cleared.

Just before the point where the scarp ended and the land dropped to the road, we noticed a stone wall running along the top of the slope....

....which, when we approached close enough to look down on it, turned out to be part of an extensive and well-built sheep pen. While there was some sign of cultivation of the flat land at the top of the slope, it's evident that this area was largely used for grazing, though the pen, from its good state of repair, was probably used by the sheep farmers that replaced the earlier inhabitants.

One unusual feature was this hole in the wall of the pen, constructed at ground level using a large slab as a lintel. While too small for a fully-grown sheep to squeeze through, lambs would have had little difficulty in escaping. The Diary is lost for an explanation.

From the pen we had a good view across Ardslignish point, Loch Sunart and the low-lying island of Oronsay to Loch Teacuis, a long finger of water which projects into the rugged landscape of Morvern.

A map of the area is here.