The lands and forests of Rannoch – some written accounts extracted from Journal of the Forestry Commission.
The first account in 1949 Journal ( in the PDF below) is by Atholl Whayman noted as a Forester, East Scotland who must have had a strong interest in the history of the Rannoch area and goes in to quite some detail. He does focus on the ‘Black Wood of Rannoch’ and other historical forest tree cutting and tree protection accounts going back as far as Robert the Bruce. He describes the origins of the Robertsons of Struan and their ownership of the Black Wood and some of the early accounts of the reputation of the Black Wood area written around 1750 as “a part noted for barbarity, thieving and rebellion”.
The lands forfeited after the 1745 rebellion were managed by the Commissioners of Forfeited Estates until around 1784. Atholl describes excerpts from their records of various sales and harvesting of timber including the building of a sawmill near Dall. Early in the 1800s the Black Wood was purchased from the Robertsons by a public company intent on harvesting the trees and there are mentions of building canals in the woodland, rafting and free logging the timber with Dundee being the intended terminus, but of rafts being sighted as far as the coasts of Holland and Denmark and the eventual abandonment of the scheme. Purchased in 1895 by the Wentworth family the Wood deteriorated further with the increased in deer numbers stifling any regeneration. The timber was also harvested during the building of West Highland Railway (sawmill set up near Innescalden) but some plantations were initiated, more timber removed in WW1 and more notably again in WW2 when the Canadian Forestry Corps set up a mill near Dall and “creamed” the crop. Atholl describes some of the distinct characteristics of the native trees and mentions that the wood was again enclosed in 1948 to protect the trees and encourage regeneration.
Below is another extract of a short account in the 1958 Journal of a recent purchase by the Forestry Commission of the Dall Estate and thus forming a substantial contiguous area of land to be known as Rannoch Forest which included the whole of the Black Wood of Rannoch.
DALL
By R. d'Q. P. JACKSON District Officer, Scottish Directorate
This Perthshire estate lying on the south side of Loch Rannoch was acquired in 1957. Out of a total area of 26,110 acres the Forestry Commission will eventually control 21,188 acres (including 7,323 acres plantable). Most of the balance comprises the sheep farm of Finnart which will remain in existence,
By purchasing this estate the Forestry Commission has now acquired the whole of the Black Wood of Rannoch. Part of this remnant of the old Caledon¬ian Forest was already included in Rannoch Forest and was described in the Journal for 1949. The wood covers about 900 acres and consists of Scots pine, many of which are 250 years old and more. Due to exploitation over the centuries however, it is now only a shadow of what it must once have been. Because of its ecological and historical interest a block of 240 acres was set aside in 1955 to be used by the Research Branch for special study.
The estate is well known in sporting circles, red deer, grouse, blackgame and capercailzie all being common. In this connection a former owner, Capt. Wentworth, was noted between the wars not only as an expert shut but also as a curler who used to skip his own estate Rink to victory on many occasions.
The Commission already owned 5,112 acres round Loch Rannoch before Dall and the neighbouring estate of Rannoch Barracks were acquired. With these additions our property now covers over 45.000 acres of which about one third are plantable and available for this purpose. This part of the country is rather sparsely populated, the economy being based on sheep farming, sport and hydro-electricity, forestry developments augur well for its future.
Groups: Forestry Areas, Forestry Records, Booklets and Reports