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Glen Stockdale Cave

Appin, Glen Stockdale, Argyllshire.

Almost due north or the ruins of Glenstockdale House, a large stream sinks on the far side of the lime­stone outcrop. Thought to be one of the hiding places of Stewart of Ardsheal in 1746AD, the three by six metre entrance chamber is a feasible if damp and draughty refuge.

The stream flows through the walking size entrance and drops into a low crawl under the left wall. Opposite the entrance a hading passage leads to a right bend after three metres. Originally choked this was dug to reveal l0m of rift passage adorned with sharp flakes - Sabre Tooth Passage. This leads to a 2 ½ m diameter chamber with the whole of one wall and the roof apparently made of mud with large boulders peering through overhead. Two holes in the floor drop about a metre into a wider passage ending after five metres in vegetation and mud plastered choke.

Alternative Names: Glenstockdale Cave, Glan Stockdale Cave, Glen Stockdale (cave of), Cave of Glen Stockdale

Notes: Previously recorded at NM 94680 49010 and now at NM 94685 49013.

Reported to have been one of the hiding places of Charles Stuart of Ardsheal, one of Prince Charlie's strongest supporters during the second Jacobite Rising (1745). Following defeat at Culloden, the survivors scattered. For the next decade they were relentlessly hunted by the English army and many took to the hills and lived in caves such as this. There is another cave to the north in Duror that is also known to have been a hiding place of Ardsheal.

Position updated in 2008.