Avielochan
Hamlet in Highland, Scotland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Avielochan (Scottish Gaelic: Aghaidh an Lochain) is a hamlet in the historical county of Inverness-shire, within the Highland council area of Scotland. It is located north of Aviemore, on the A9 road. The area is noted for its prehistoric cairn.
Avielochan
| |
|---|---|
| |
  Avielochan Location within the Badenoch and Strathspey area | |
| OS grid reference | NH905165 |
| Council area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Police | Scotland |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| UK Parliament | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
Geography and wildlife
Avielochan is located in Strathspey[1] in central, northern Scotland, within the Cairngorms National Park. The village is located south of Kinveachy and north of Granish.[2] The settlement takes its name from the body of water Avie Lochan[3] (meaning "the small lake of Avie) archaically named Loch-na- mhoon, measuring about 90 yards long, and 50 across.[4] Prior to the great floods in 1829, there was a floating island on the loch measuring about 30 yards across.[4] It attracts ospreys during the spring and summer months and goldeneye, coot and Slavonian grebe, amongst others.[5] Red squirrel, red deer, roe deer, black grouse and capercaillie inhabit the area.[5]
Buildings
Avelochan Farm lets out self-catering cottages during the warmer months of the year to tourists.[5] The farm itself covers an area of 270 hectares, with arable fields, rough grazing and woodland.[6] At certain times in the year it has around 80 cattle and some 60 Cheviot ewes which are crossed with a Suffolk tup before they are sold in early autumn.[6] One building of note is Clach Mhor (meaning 'big stone' in Gaelic) which is located on the edge of the village.[7]
Chamber tomb
The area is noted for its prehistoric chamber tomb stones which are said to be particularly old by some sources, although they have not been dated reliably.[8][9] The site contains a cairn which is very circular in shape except for a slight flattening at the entrance, where part of a lignite amulet has been unearthed.[9][10] The tumulus is about 40 feet in diameter.[1]
The cairn is said to be "aligned" with Glen Einich, and has views of the Cairngorm Mountains.[11]
