Monument record MHG44 - Farmstead at Srath Shuardail, Ardtornish

Three unroofed buildings, one of which has an attached enclosure, and a field are depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Argyllshire 1875, sheet lxxi). Four unroofed buildings, one enclosure and an unenclosed field are shown on the current edition of the OS 1:10000 map (1975).
Information from RCAHMS (SAH) 24 August 1998

Remains of 2 buildings, occupied by 1815, one abandoned before 1841, the other c.1879. <1>

By the medieval period the lands of Srath Shuardail, and nearby Clais Bhreac, were part of the property of Achranich and by the late 14th century at least the lands were the property of the Macleans of Duart. Srath Shuardail is possibly referred to in a charter of 1496 granting lands in Morvern to Lachlan Makgilleone, the natural son of Hector Makhilleone of Dowarde. The first time Srath Shuardail can be positively identified in the documentary record, in a document of 1730, the Macleans had lost most of their Morvern lands. Srath Shuardail is among a number of properties specified in a sale of the "lands of Kinlochallan" and the lands changed hands again several times over the next century.

As noted above, Alexander Langland's "Plan of the lands of Achranich" depicts two buildings at Srath Shuardail in 1815. By 1841 there was a population of three living in only one household, and that house was also abandoned by 1861, probably around 1857 (see <1>). By 1845 these lands had been incorporated into a large-scale sheep farming enterprise and by the 1850s Srath Shuardail was occupied by a shepherd, an employee of the Achranich estate. The sheep were cleared from the land in the 1860s after the owner, Octavius Smith, acquired the neighbouring estate of Ardtornish. Further information about the history and ownership of Srath Shuardail is given in <2>.

The settlement at Srath Shuardail comprises a cluster of at least four buildings situated at the south end of a series of enclosed fields, depicted on Langland's plan of 1815. Although the two original buildings were abandoned by the 1860s, a third building was added by 1872 and a fourth was recorded by the Ordnance Survey in 1973. There may be a visual impact on this site from a new power house associated with a proposed hydro scheme, and it is suggested in the survey report that efforts are made to construct it in keeping with the local vernacular architecture. <2>