Culardoch Shieling Quotes

“The footprint of Culardoch Shieling measures 47 square metres and the interior is lined with Sitka. In contrast to traditional shieling huts, it provides accommodation for eating only. From within, the windows mimicking Ronchamp, are placed, not as Corbusier intended, to strategically introduce a deliberate interplay of light and shadow, but rather, to frame specific viewpoints of the Beinn Avon massif. Culardoch Shieling presents us with a clever, romanticised view of what the shieling can be in 21st century Scotland. Unfortunately, it is not a structure that I find convincing. The fusion of modernist borrowings and Swiss-chalet vernacular aside, it is the conceptual basis for this 'shieling' that I find troubling. Obviously the need for shieling huts to provide shelter for those tending the dairy herd is anachronistic. However, the heritage that Culardoch Shieling pays homage to is clearly straight from a 19th century shooting textbook. It's a lunch hut. A 21st century folly, which was never intended for overnight stay, nor for sustained periods of habitation. In Glen Gairn the shieling way of life has become shieling lifestyle.”
― Charles Fletcher, Reforesting Scotland 72: Autumn/Winter 2025