Monument record MHG12993 - Geo-Na-Tent

Summary

No summary available.

Location

Grid reference Centred NC 1486 4320 (60m by 60m) (Buffered by site type)
Map sheet NC14SW
Geographical Area SUTHERLAND
Old County SUTHERLAND
Civil Parish EDDRACHILLIS

Map

Type and Period (1)

Full Description

NC14SW 1 1486 4320.

At NC 1486 4320, concealed in a deep hollow at the end of a rocky bay, is a roughly oval enclosure, 13m by 8m, with narrow entrances at the NW and SE. The drystone wall is 0.7m thick and stands to a maximum height of 1.1m. The interior is floored with rubble and scree packing but the only feature is a small pen at the SW, probably a later addition.
Mr Thompson (A Thompson, Cardhu, Scourie) stated that the enclosure was named 'Geo-na- Tent' and had been a secret meeting place of the Covenanters. He believes it once carried a tent-like roof.
Visited by OS (F R H) 20 June 1962; Visible on RAF air photographs 106G. Scot. UK74: 4167-8, flown 9 May 1946.

The enclosure, as described above, was a secret meeting place, not of the Covenanters, but of the adherents to the Free Church who, having broken away from the established Church of Scotland in the mid-19th century, would worship in the open in the absence of a church. A similar enclosure occurs at Torridon (NG 8956 - but possibly at NG 816 544) and at Cove, a cave was utilised (NG89SW 1). The tradition is common knowledge in Scourie, but the name Geo-na-Tent (an unlikely mixture of Norse, Gaelic and English) is not.
Revised at 1:10,000.
Visited by OS (N K B) 15 July 1980.

Sources/Archives (0)

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Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

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Record last edited

Jan 28 2008 12:00AM

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