Achentoul (

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

: Achadh an t-Sabhail; translation: "field of the barn") is a hamlet in the Kinbrace area of

Sutherland Sutherland () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. The name dates from the Scandinavian Scotland, Viking era when t ...

, in the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

council area of

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

. Consisting of a few farmhouses and barns, Achentoul lies around north of Kinbrace along the A897 road and south of Loch An Ruathair. Although the Achentoul Forest is located in this area, the landscape is said to be dominated by moist Atlantic heather moor. Loch an Ruathair - geograph

Geography

The Achentoul Estate boasts several lochs, including Loch Ascaig, Loch Arachlinie, Loch Badanloch, Loch Ruthair, Loch Drum, Loch Lucy, Loch Cullidh, Loch Dubh, Loch Sletill and Loch Badanloch. Loch fishing is available on a number of the estate's lochs.

Flora and fauna

The rugged and remote Achentoul Forest lies to the north of Achentoul Lodge. A

deer forest The deer forest ( Gaelic: frìth) is a sporting estate which is kept and managed largely or solely for the purposes of maintaining a resident population of red deer for sporting ( deer stalking) purposes. It is an institution and phenomenon pecu ...

, it has been a noted sporting estate for deer shooting for centuries. The area is frequented by deer year round, as well as

birds of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as (although not the same as) raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively predation, hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and smaller birds). In addition to speed ...

Culture

Achentoul Lodge was built c. 1900. It is situated southeast of Loch An Ruathair, overlooking the moorland to the north of Kinbrace. The lodge organizes hind stalking during the winter months (October–February) to kill deer, which are considered pests to the forest. For the sport the farm charges up to £130 for a session if the shooter hires a keeper, although a stalker is only permitted to kill two deer in a session. However, the farm claims that the hind stalking is for woodland conservation purposes primarily, given that the Achentoul estate by 1970 had dedicated for afforestation and sold to the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respons ...

. Rabbit shooting on the farm is also available. A notable family on the farm are the Nutting family, who hired the late Donald Mackay to manage the farm in 1958. He worked in Achentoul for a long time with the Henderson brothers; he died in 2010, aged 76. The Ca na Catanach is a medieval road and

drovers' road A drovers' road, drove road, droveway, or simply a drove, is a route for droving livestock on foot from one place to another, such as to marketplace, market or between summer and winter pasture (see transhumance). Many drovers' roads were anci ...

with a footpath between Dorrery Lodge and the north end of Achentoul. Kinbrace Hill (also known as Kinbrace Farm or Achentoul Forest) is noted by the

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) was an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government that was "sponsored" inanced and with oversightthrough Historic Scotland, an executive ...

for a long, chambered

cairn A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, t ...

References

{{commons category Populated places in Sutherland