Heritage Value
The Lone Shieling, located on a roughly landscaped site at Cape Breton Highlands National Park, is a rectangular structure closely modeled after Scottish traditional dwellings for crofters or tenant farmers. It features low, massive, random rubblestone walls, rough-hewn timbers and a thatched roof. The H
The Lone Shieling is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental value.
Historical Value
The Lone Shieling at Cape Breton Highlands National Park is one of the first national parks in the Maritime Provinces and is associated with the expansion of the parks system to eastern Canada. It is also strongly associated with a Scottish theme, which was adopted by the National Parks Bureau in order to highlight Cape Breton’s physical resemblance to the Scottish Highlands. One of the earliest structures in the park, it illustrates the traditional heritage of the local inhabitants from the crofter class of the Scottish Highlanders.
Architectural Value
The Lone Shieling is a very good example of a basic shelter known as a ‘bothran’, a seasonal dwelling traditionally used by shepherds in Scotland during the time of year when sheep were moved to graze on the highlands, away from the village. Designed to promote the traditional heritage of the crofter class of the Scottish Highlanders, the Lone Shieling is characterized by its simple form and massing which is based on the rustic image of a ‘bothran’. It is also valued for its quality stonework detailing, and timber and thatch roofing. Professor S. Macintosh, who bequeathed the 100 acres of land for the park, requested that a small cabin be built in the same design as the Lone Shieling on the Isle of Skye in Scotland.
Reference: (
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The inscription on a bronze plaque on site:
From the Lone Shieling of the
Misty Islands, mountains divide
us, and the waste of seas - yet
still the blood is strong, the
heart is highland and we in
dreams behold the Hebrides.
This Shieling was erected in
accordance with the terms
of the will of Professor Donald
MacIntosh, a native of Pleasant
Bay, Inverness County who died
on July 20th, 1934 and devised
to the Province of Nova Scotia
one hundred acres of land
hereabout expressing the wish
that the Government of the
Province will maintain
a small park at the Intervale
and will build there a small
cabin which will be constructed
in the same design or plan as
the Long Shieling on the Island
of Skye, Scotland.
From an information panel also on site:
During summer on the Western Islands of Scotland
crofters (tenant farmers) grazed their livestock on the
hill pastures of clan chieftains.
A shieling sheltered the crofter and often some
of his livestock. This open end, which provided
light, would be closed in with peat sods during storms.
On the well swept earthen floor, a blazing peat fire
provided heat, light and smoke. Fragrant pallets
of heather or bracken covered the stone bunks.