Monument record MHG34963 - FORT AUGUSTUS - BERNERA MILITARY ROAD

Created automatically by NMRS Register Utility
User: Admin, Date: Wed 13 Oct 2004
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NH01SE 11.00 from 0999 1142 to 0500 1165. MR 12 (formerly Lin 510).

NH01SE 11.01 0830 1186 Bridge.
NH01SE 11.02 0822 1177 Bridge.
NH01SE 11.03 0824 1178 Culvert.
NH01SE 11.04 0652 1156 Ford.
NH01SE 11.05 0642 1156 Ford.
NH01SE 11.06 0631 1156 Ford.

The line of the military road is probably under the loch until its reappearance near the Cluanie Inn. The route then ascends to the N of the present road at NH 073 115 and pursues a course W above the line of the A87.
W Taylor 1976.

NH 0999 1142 to NH 0830 1186 military road submerged beneath Loch Cluanie.
NH 0830 1186 single span bridge (NH01SE 11.01) 3.7m width between parapets. Now disused.
NH 0830 1186 to NH 0743 1161 modern road on line.
NH 0743 1161 to NH 0500 1165 grass track unsuitable for vehicles. Track about 5m wide, fairly well aligned and drained.
Visited by OS (NKB) 3 October 1966.


Initially the route of the military road is apparently submerged beneath Loch Cluanie. At the W end of the loch, there seem to be two sections of track, giving alternative possible lines for the military road. At NH 0822 1177 are to be found the remains of a single span stone bridge, and to the W of this, traces of old asphalt metalling are visible along the track.
Both segments of track, which are of similar size, 3m to 4m wide, are faint and overgrown. They display no obvious military characteristics apart from their width. One line passes the Cluanie Inn, whereas the other follows a line to the S of the hotel.
From a point at approximately NH 0743 1161, there is a rough stony track running along the hillside to the N of and above the A87. It traverses open land and like earlier sections is vulnerable to the spating of hillside burns during wet weather. The track was only partially surveyed, but, apart from being 3m to 4m wide, no military characteristics were observed. Due to spating the track fabric has degenerated, being very eroded and in parts completely washed away. There appears to be little survival of early road fabric in this section.
M Logie (Highland Council) 1997; NMRS MS 1007/6.

There is a discrepancy between the route described by Taylor (1976) and that shown on the current edition of the 1:10 000 OS map (1971), in which the line of the military road does not coincide at all with that of the present road (in Taylor?s case not reappearing until near the Cluanie Inn although surfacing as a track on the OS map) and that on the annotated field sheet, on which the military line is shown as sharing that of the modern road between NH 0830 1186 and NH 0743 1161.
Additionally, the current edition of the 1:10 000 OS map (1971) shows a route reaching land at approximately NH 0818 1151, disappearing below the loch again at NH 0780 1150, re-emerging at NH 0759 1160 and continuing as a track. However, the route as surveyed by the OS (NKB) 3 October 1966 shows the line reaching the land at approximately NH 0830 1186, sharing the route of the modern road as far as NH 0743 1161, and then joining the other route and procceding W as a rough track.. Logie (1997) comments on the fact that there are alternative tracks. The line she shows to the S is the same as that recorded on the current edition of the 1:10 000 OS map (1971), the line to the N appearing to reach land at approximately NH 0830 1179 and linking with the A87 at NH 0824 1178, thereafter following the same line as that observed by the OS (NKB) 3 October 1966.
Information from RCAHMS (MW) 31 March 1999 and 15 June 1999.