Monument record MHG57280 - Still bothy - Loch Achonachie (Allt na Criche)

Distilling sites and potentially associated structures situated on a shoulder ground characterised by rock outcrops and dense heather ground cover above the enclosed fields at Drumindarroch farm to the NE. There are at least four probable still bothies and two other structures distributed above the N bank of the Allt na Criche (NOSAS Site Survey Nos 199 – 204 and 228). Presumably these features were associated with the production of illegal whisky.

204 Building/Still bothy (Allt na Criche) - NH 42174 54938 This structure was recorded by NOSAS in 2007 as part of the Scotland's Rural Past Project. It is secluded in a small ravine on the NW bank of the Allt na Criche and only 2.8m from it. Birch woods surround. The remains of the rectangular structure, on a NW-SE axis, measure 5.5m x 3.5m internally. The NW and SW walls are 0.5m-1m in height and 0.5m in thickness with little tumble. The NE wall is recessed into the slope and is generally 0.8m in height. Its east end extends to form part of the arc of a circle, c1.75m diameter. The structure is open at its south end and there may be an entrance at the NE corner. Heavy growth of heather. This building is almost certainly a still bothy and the other structures to be found in the surrounding landscape reinforce this interpretation. It may be significant that all these structures are to be found on the NW side of the Allt na Criche which was the former parish boundary and also the march between the two estates of Fairburn and Scatwell, perhaps the Scatwell owners may have turned a “blind eye” to the illicit activities, whereasthe Fairburn landowners were less tolerant!! <1>