Cladach
village in North Ayrshire, Scotland, UK
Note: Cladach is a general Scottish Gaelic word for "beach" or "shore" and occurs in many Scottish placenames
Cladach (Scottish Gaelic: An Cladach) is a tiny settlement on the Isle of Arran, Scotland. The settlement is within the parish of Kilbride. In the vicinity of the island's main village, Brodick, Cladach is the site of the Cladach Sawmill and in more recent times, the Arran Brewery. The company, Arran Aromatics is located nearby, as is Brodick Castle.
History
Cladach was in the past a much larger settlement, and was in fact the site of the original village on Brodick Bay, with modern Brodick being built on the south side of the Bay later. There were in the past a series of houses on the Coast Road in Cladach, but they were demolished many years ago.
There were also a series of houses that were let to employees of the sawmill by the sawmill owners. However, in recent years Cladach has essentially been depopulated and the buildings that used to house residents either demolished or converted into small businesses.
Geography
Cladach sits on the eastern coast of the Isle of Arran, off the Coast Road across the Brodick Bay from Brodick.
Economy
The Cladach Visitors' Centre is now the main attraction on the site of Cladach.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Cladach” as village in North Ayrshire, Scotland, UK. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as village in North Ayrshire, Scotland, UK. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5124908. Authority coordinates are 55.592, -5.154. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Cladach”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Cladach primary sources, Cladach archive and Cladach research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Cladach”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Cladach” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.