Gairloch Museum

Taigh-Tasgaidh Gheàrrloch

Pictish symbol stone

Clach shnaighte Chruithneach

Gairloch Museum recently relocated to a stunning new building – a former nuclear bunker in the centre of Gairloch. A combination of modern museum technology and traditional displays tell the story of the people and landscape of Gairloch and the surrounding area from the oldest rocks in Europe to the modern day.   The museum also celebrates the Gaelic culture of the area.

Further information

The stone, carved from Torridonian red sandstone, is just under a metre high. It was found in 1949 in a cist burial at Strath, Gairloch (NGR: NG 799 772) during the construction of houses. It briefly served as a sill stone in the doorway of an outhouse at Flowerdale House (NG87NW 34). For a short while it was displayed in the porch of the Church of Scotland in Gairloch, and then built into the wall of the adjacent burial ground. In 1977 it was removed and taken to Gairloch Heritage Museum. When the museum moved in 2019, the stone found a new home in the former nuclear bunker that is the new Gairloch Museum. You can read more on their website.

For further details see https://her.highland.gov.uk/Monument/MHG7733 and https://canmore.org.uk/site/11962/gairloch-pictish-symbol-stone

A second Pictish stone with crescent and V-rod symbols, found in 1992 and thought to date from the 7th century AD, can be seen six miles away at Londubh burial ground, an old chapel site. https://her.highland.gov.uk/Monument/MHG14066

Other highlights of the Museum include the original lens from Rubh Re (Rubha Reidh) lighthouse, a replica croft house showing how people used to live, and an interactive gallery about our magnificent natural world – midges and all!