Cnocan Burraidh, Heritage Project
We have been proud to have supported the Glen Urquhart Community Council and Glen Urquhart Heritage Group on this heritage project with funding and development time. The restoration works were completed in October 2021 and were commemorated with an event at the site on Saturday 13th November. Repairs and maintenance will be ongoing and if you would like to volunteer some time to help with this please get in touch.
The planned community activities were completed with the filming of a series of six short stories about the Grants of Glen Urquhart. The films can be viewed through the Soirbheas YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfeIViJSGFK7VVCm8JYMSDA/videos
We were very fortunate to have been supported by Eve, an Archaeologist from Historic Environment Scotland, who helped deliver activities and encouraged local children, young people and groups to take an interest in local heritage, identify changes in the Glen and record information about the site. This record will form part of the national archive and be available to locals and visitors alike.
Participants learned about their local heritage; gained skills in how to conserve heritage (practical and recording); and were given the opportunity to learn about specialist jobs. We were delighted the project was approved by Archaeology Scotland for their Heritage Hero Awards, meaning everyone who completed activities received a certificate in recognition of their contribution.
Many of the activities we had planned were disrupted by Corona virus restrictions but as you can see in the Community section below there was lots of involvement from the nursery and schools. The Creative Writers had also prepared some super pieces of poetry about the Battle of Coire Buidhe. To find out more [email protected]
Some background to the project can be read in the May 2019 press release
Repair Work
Work on reinstating the old wall and coping stones begins with local stonemasons Tom Nelson and Neil Reid
August 2019
March 2020
April 2020 – Pointing finished and wall repairs complete
Mausoleum cap stone repaired – July 2020
The current concrete cap was made of concrete, had a lot of moss and had become quite porous causing problems to the marble below. The solution (recommended by Historic Environment Scotland) was a lead cap over the concrete with a drip channel so water doesn’t run down the face but falls off the cap. In preparation for the lead work David Marshall installed a marine ply base, securely attached to the concrete cap, this has a waterproof membrane over the ply.
A specialist lead worker then installed a stainless steel skirt around the edge of the concrete before installing the lead cap. The top is not as square as it looked at first glance and the best way to join the lead sheets was to roll them over round batons. The shape also meant that many layers of lead were meeting at the centre and the lead workers recommended a small feature as a way to ensure the centre is totally weather tight. The lead has been treated with 2 coats of oil.
Conservation Works begin on the Marble – 21 July 2020
KK Conservation and Art have started the conservation work to the marble. The first stage of the was some careful steam cleaning and initial testing with a number of chemicals. Karolina thinks most of the staining, including the red colouration is algae / bacterial in nature. The red stain has proved resistant to the first 2 chemicals applied but there are 2 others she wants to try, one has to soak in for 3 days. When the work is complete the marble gets a clear chemical treatment which should discourage future growth for a while.
October 2020 – marble has started to be replaced. The pointing will lighten as it dries and the work Karolina is to complete will help with the slight difference in colour.
And the difference:
Commemorating the Completion of Works – 13 November 2021
Access to t
he site has been improved with a self-closing gate and hardcore surface to the path. Please be aware that throughout the year there are cattle in the field, so taking dogs in is not advisable.
Interpretation panels with some additional information have been sited at the Cnocan Burraidh site and at The Loch Ness Hub.
Community Activities
Glen Urquhart Heritage Group – 27 June 2019 – open walk for all to Coire Buidhe battle site. An intrepid group of local folk set out in the morning to visit the site of the battle which took place 330 years ago today! You can read the Glen version of the battle here
Glen Urquhart Heritage Group – Stories of the Grants – 14 February 2020 – Chris Grant and David Fraser gave an interesting presentation at the monthly meeting of the Heritage Group. This included the restoration of the Cnocan Burraidh burial ground and the history about some of the people who have been laid to rest there. The research being carried out will form a publication, but in the meantime here are the presentation notes prepared by Chris about the 8 Grant men of Sheuglie who were involved in the ’45.
Glen Urquhart Childcare Centre – 10 September 2019 measuring time back to the Castle, the clothes people wore, how houses and transport have changed and the wild animals that were in the Glen. Check out their Blog
1st October 2019 – visit to the site, told the story of the Grants and the Battle of Coire Buidhe, counted the graves, made drawings and took photographs. Check out their Blog
19th November 2019 – experience history with handling boxes from HES Urquhart Castle and ‘stone carving’ techniques using soap.
The children completed the required number of hours and learning to achieve the Heritage Hero Detective Award from Archaeology Scotland. Well done everyone – great job! And as the first nursery group to achieve an award we have been asked to present our project as a case study for Archaeology Scotland – we’ll keep you informed when it goes live!
Glen Urquhart Primary School – 1st October 2019 – visit to the site and introduction to the history of the Grant family. Referring to the list of grave markers completed in 1989 by Donald and Loraine Maclean of Dochgarroch, the children identified the stones and discussed why the condition had deteriorated and took photographs for their records. Back at school the children looked up Drumnadrochit and Cnocan Burraidh using National Libraries of Scotland maps to see how things have changed, a super resource for anyone to use.
20th November 2019 – local history walk to Lady’s Well, Balmacaan House gates and identify changes to access roads. Then in class the children used their chrome books to complete map work, identified family links for the family tree and used MyCanmore to find and store information.
Balnain Primary School – 20th November 2019 both classes were given an introduction to the history of the Grants; experienced history with handling boxes from HES Urquhart Castle and learned how to make royal seals and decrees.
25th February 2020 – both classes enjoyed a visit to Patrick Grant’s summer house at Lochletter. Eve our HES Archaeologist, told them about changes to access routes; why the trees were planted along the route and why large gates were erected.
The children were able to see part of the original house built by Patrick Grant, which was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in the 1930’s. The summer house, on top of a knoll, has spectacular views up and down Loch Meikle, which let the children see the area that the Grants once owned – albeit through some pretty heavy snow showers! Many thanks to Rab and Tanya and AliMac for allowing our visit.
There is a document from 2004 on Canmore from Historic Environment Scotland that you may be interested in reading about the ‘Garden Pavillion’ http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/LB49692
Glen Urquhart High School – the project was rolled out in February 2020 during careers week. The 3rd year pupils took part in a morning of activities with specialist HES staff – archaeologists, GIS mapping/IT and stone masons. They will visit the site in the drier weather and complete survey work. They also visited the Archive Centre for a unique look ‘behind the scenes’ and to see the records held in the archive about the Grant family and Glenurquhart.
Many thanks are extended to Amy, Kat, Shaun and the stonemasons from HES; and Lorna Steel, Community Officer and the team at The Archive Centre for all their expertise and enthusiasm supporting the project.
Community Films
The community sketch show was unable to be staged in June 2020 due to Coronavirus. So that a visual interpretation of the some of the stories would not be lost, with approval from the funders, the decision was made to create a series of six films. These depict the early years – Advance of the Grants; the Battle of Coire Buidhe; 1745 Battle of Culloden and loss of fortunes; India and Return of Fortunes; Shinty; and welcome to the burial site. The films were premiered at two community showings on Friday 29th April, 2022. They have been made available to Glenurquhart High School to show at assemblies, and as a topic of interest are being presented at the Glenurquhart Care Project.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfeIViJSGFK7VVCm8JYMSDA/videos
Funding, Sponsors and Support
The Project group would like to acknowledge and thank the following:
> Chris Grant for advice and support
> John Cameron the landowner for access to the site
> the volunteers who contribute many hours with repairs, preserving heritage and community involvement
> the players of the national lottery
Funds and Grants from:
A private donation – many thanks, you know who you are!
Thanks to the following organisations:
