Glen Tarken and her townships 2. Jerusalem.

Jerusalem Cottage. Copyright Author

Returning to our posts on the Glentarken area. We leave behind the township of Wester Glentarken and following the path up and around the back of the village. We climb up and follow the path round until we come to a bridge on our right that stretches across the burn. It is worth stopping here for a moment to enjoy the falls below and also note the remains of further buildings, behind us to the left, that make up the wider Glentarken community.

Copyright: Crown

Carrying on, across the bridge follow the path up until you arrive at the remains of a building situated next to the renovated croft house. Here you have arrived at Jerusalem.

There is some confusion as to the naming and placing of the townships of Glentarken, Morell and Jerusalem. This area is annotated as 'Easter Glentarken' as depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Perthshire 1867, sheet xciii). We can identify the area on the map as comprising of three roofed, two partially roofed buildings and two enclosures. Later OS maps show this area as Jerusalem and the Easter Glentarken as slightly higher up the Glen. (As shown here). A later posting will add more information about
Easter Glentarken.

Jerusalem cottage. Copyright: Author

Very little is known as to why this particular township area is known as Jerusalem but there is a lot of information relating to two saint fillans, and the close relationship to the area of St. Fillan at Loch Earn. One of Irish and one of Scottish Origin .The St. Fillan whose feast is kept on 20 June had churches dedicated to his honour at Ballyheyland, County Laois, Ireland and here at Loch Earn, Perthshire. References to the feast of St. Fillan being on 19 January occasionally appear and agreement upon which is correct has not been reached.

Remains close to Jerusalem. C: Author

There is evidence to show that the Saint, and his followers, held a house in the area. Further information regaring this heritage can be read here from an article written in 1895. (Courtesy Archaeological Data Service, University of York).

What ever the story, and what ever the reason, I find this a really interesting area and one of such beauty. Throughout my visit , I was occasionally joined by deer running across the area, and of course amazing views. Don't rush your visit to this area, but immerse yourself in the history and emotion of the villages.

Glen Quaich and her Townships ~Croftinafighag.

Copyright: NLS / Crown

 Continuing our walk along the path from Easter Turrerich, we come to a small croft township site that consists of five unroofed buildings, two enclosures and a sheepfold. This site is very close to the now installed power lines. There are the remains of 5 buildings in all and evidence of sheep enclosures to the east of the site into the next field area. The croft is located next to a mature woodland.

This is an interesting site in that it is lower that the others on the route and there is still evidence of the different divisions in the buildings. There is also signs of some good construction techniques.

Croftinafighag. Copyright: Author

 This is a nice area to stop, have a coffee and a spot of lunch before continuing the 2miles to the next location. Whilst having your lunch and contemplating the beauty of the area and the Glen in front of you, you may turn your thoughts to the reasons for the clearances and why people would have had to leave.


Most of the people who lived in these areas of Perthshire worked on the land or were dependant on those who did. They were hard working, they had to be, considering the sometimes rocky, infertile hill ground which they had to cultivate in order to maintain their families. They were God fearing, attended church regularly and probably paid lip service to the laws of the church, but they would have no choice as the Church was their only help in times of need. This bears evidence throughout the period of the clearances in almost all areas of Scotland, with the church and the clergy often working for the villagers but often working with the Land owners. The physical presence of the church often provided a refuse in a lot of cases to families and whole communities after being evicted from their homes. The most famous of these is the clearances of Glencalvie in 1850 and Croick Kirk.(A brilliant account of the relationship between the church and the transformation of the highlands throughout this period can be read in the book, The clergy and the Clearances, obtained here

Easter Turrerich. copyrigh Author

Here it may be worth considering that some left the area not forcebly, as often reported when writing about the period of the clearances, but may have left through choice.

It would be naive to suggest that forced clearances never took place in Highland Perthshire; the Duke of Atholl was the first to clear some of his land to make way for sheep. The clearances at Glen Tilt, in Blair Atholl, were the first recorded evidence of the clearances in Scotland. The lands here, in Glenquaich, were cleared along with some parts of the Parich of Dull by the Earl of Breadalbane around 1830.



Many of these people left their homeland by choice, they were not forced out. Especially after the landowners had amalgamated the small farms or crofts, such as the one you sit in now, there just wasn’t enough to keep young people at home.

Emigration became an option for many with agents advertising for young Scots to go to the colonies where they were needed and work was plentiful. (The last post I published provided evidence of the type of advertising and testimonials used by the Canada Company)

Another reason for a areas becoming desolate was the common custom in Highland Perthshire of sending young boys south to learn the art of animal husbandry and farming, returning later, if at all, to take over the croft or farm in the area. Soth may have been to the Lowlands or into England where farming on larger scale was being carried out. Some may have returned with the Yorkshire farmers who obtained tenancy on the newly created, and enlarged, sheep farms. Others may have found employment in the new mills of Yorkshire and Lancashire where accommodation and employment would have been more lucrative than returning to the harsh realities of Highland life.

(adapt. Liney, K. 2006. 'Researching in Highland Perthshire Part 1' North Perthshire Family History Group.Sept. 2006)

Sallachill Township Area

Further to my earlier discussion regarding Sallachill, I am now able to post some of the photographs that I took on that visit. The site is extensive  and the footprint of the township is sprread over three distinctive areas. These I will call lower, middle and higher.

Lower village area

Typical footprint remains of aea

Gable and left wall remain

Another of the remaining buildings

Long barn with dividing wall

Complete gable and corner wall

Salachill Township Area. Perthshire

Today, after two weeks of torrential rain, I was able to resume my activities and headed out to the township of Salachill to continue my recording of villages and townships in the Dunkeld / Perthshire area. This is proving to be a very rich area for townships and discoveries

Salachill is a site that I have wanted to visit for a while and I was not disappoined. The only disappointment was the new wind farm that they are building across the area, so careful positioning of photographs was required!

The township is situated at NN954 427 and can be accessed along good paths from Ballinloan Bridge. Be carefull though, the are is very boggy and after all the rain, be prepared to wear suitable boots and clothing to achieve your aim.

Crown Copyright.

Crown Copyright

Salachill is an interesting site to visit. The remains of this township are situated on a hillside above the NE bank of the Ballinloan Burn,around 1.5 miles from Ballinloan Bridge. There are around twenty-three buildings, many of them are grouped into farmsteads, linked by trackways and set within stone-walled fields scattered with field-clearance heaps. The 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Perthshire 1867, sheet lxi) depicts almost all of these buildings (20 unroofed buildings).

Within the main area of the township, within the lower village are the remains of four farmsteads with many of them set into the hillside, or terraced up on their downhill side. These each comprise of five or six buildings loosely clustered around an irregularly-shaped yard. Two of these are located on a terrace immediately above the Ballinloan Burn, while the other two are situated slightly higher on the hillside. two of the buildings don't fit neatly into this arrangement and they stand in isolation at the W edge of the site.

The overall construction of the buildings on the site are very similar being roughly rectangular with square corners and in most cases gable-ended. they have faced-rubble walls mostly with cruck slots visible in one or two of them.

The size of the buildings can be divided into two distinct groups. In the first group there are five buildings measuring internally between 20.3m and 29.5m in length and between 3.8m and 4.5m in breadth. There is one of these long buildings in each farmstead, always on the N side of the yard.  The fifth is one of the two isolated buildings at the W edge of the site. They are all divided into two or more compartments and most of the compartments have separate entrances, which in all cases are in the South side of the wall, opening onto the yard. In two of the buildings, fireplaces can still be clearly seen in the west gable.

The other eighteen buildings are clustered close to the larger buildings, and help to define, the limits of each steading's yard. Several of the larger examples are divided into two compartments, and there is evidence of an upper floor in at least two cases.  Occasionally features survive which suggest a particular function: a fireplace in one building signifyes use for domestic occupation, and the opposed entrances in four buildings (one in each farmstead) points to their use as barns.

Craig Navar Township, Perthshire

The Craig Navar township is an excellent site to visit and one that I visited today. Access to the site is very easy with parking available on the A822 at Newton Bridge, which in itself is a pleasant place to picnic.Crossing the road and walking for a round half a mile on an easy flat path, that takes you all the way to Loch Tay, you come across the remains of the township.

Position of Township

The Township, as detailed in 1863

The township is situated at NN 877 317.

The Ordance Survey Map from 1863 can be viewed here showing a detailed outline of the township, at this time recorded as in ruins

The site is on the right of the path on a hill and is cosnstructed of the remains of around 11 dwellings, each in varous states of decay, with the majority of walls no higher that 1.5mtrs, although there were some 2 or 3 fine examples of gables standing at a little over 2 mtrs. The remains of each designated 'plot' can still be traced, which gives a good outline of both the village and the size of each site.


Although the majority of the clearances are associated with the Highlands, there were extensive clearing exercises taking place in the lower highland areas, such as Perthshire. The 2nd Marquess of Breadalbane carried out an act of clearing parts of his huge estates and replacing people with sheep. The areas making up Glenquaich, which runs north-west from Amulree towards Loch Tay. From the furthest point the River Quaich runs South East from the hills into Loch Freuchie. Along the shore line of Loch Freuchie there are a further several sites of former townships and communities.

 I have added some pictures as a guide to the township. (copyright:Author)

East Approach to Township

Looking West across township

Looking West across Township

A Gable example

Corner stones on south facing gable

The remains of a dwelling

Lower dwelling remains

Middle positioned dwelling

Milton Township, Newtonmore, Inverness-shire,

In 1841 there were eight townships in Glen Banchor, the ruins of which can still be seen marked on OS maps - Easterton, Westerton, Dalvalloch, Dalchurn, Lurgan, Milton, Croft Couneach, and Luib.

Milton I visited today. There is now nothing left of the site, although the site is marked by a plaque, providing a basic outline of the township and its people.

Plaque denoting site of Milton Township

Close up of Plaque inscription

Further information below about the villages and townships within this area, is provided.

 "..The estate records of 1841 showed 21 houses in the townships with 85 inhabitants. This fell, mainly due to clearances, till in 1891 there were just three houses occupied, with 12 inhabitants. Though the bulk of the clearances occurred between 1851 and 1891, the first clearances to make way for sheep were from Baillidbeg as early as 1760. The ruins of the houses can still be seen opposite the Biallid Beag Cemetery, just under a mile down the Laggan Road.
Up in the hills to the north of the River Calder, the summer sheilings can be seen (marked on OS maps). From May 1st to November 11th, the sheep and cattle were moved up the hill to summer grazing, returning in the winter to graze on the common land of the crofts (leading to the common township name to be found in many areas of the highlands of 'Winterton'). The families moved with the livestock and the ruins of the buildings can still be seen near the Red Bothy..." (Anon, www.newtonmore.com)

The site of Milton Township

Site of Former Milton Township.