MHG39315 - Cross, Cill Mhairi
Summary
No summary available.
Type and Period (1)
- CROSS (Undated)
Protected Status
Full Description
Cill Mhairi (NR) (Remains) OS 6"map, Argyllshire, 2nd ed., (1902)
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See assoc. docs. File (photos).
J Aitken : 14/03/02.
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Only faint traces of the foundations of this pre-Reformation chapel remain, within the old graveyard. It was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Most of the gravestones are uninscribed; Donaldson found the head of a solid wheel cross there, but could not find the font, Tobar Baistidh, said to be there. It measures 2ft long, with a bowl-shaped depression.
Name Book 1872; M E M Donaldson 1923.
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All that can be seen of the chapel are the amorphous turf-covered footings of the S wall, about 17.0m long, in the centre of the burial ground. The baptismal font described above lies within the area of the chapel. The graveyard, known locally as Cill Mhairi, is still used, and the broken wheel cross survives.
Surveyed at 1:10,560. Visited by OS (N K B) 8 June 1970.
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Chapel (Site) and Burial-ground, Cill Mhairi: There are no visible remains of the chapel that formerly existed on this site, unless its position is marked by a shapeless mound at the centre of the burial-ground. The surrounding dry-stone wall, which is of 19th-century date, encloses a sub-oval area measuring 37m from E to W by 27m from N to S, and may follow the line of an earlier boundary. The earliest identifiable tombstones are of 19th-century date.
In the burial-ground there is a fragment of a free-standing ringed cross which is at present used as a headstone. The ring measures 0.58m in diameter externally, and the undecorated shaft, which is broken off 0.50m below the head, is 0.09m in thickness.
RCAHMS 1980, visited 1972.
Oval burial-ground and site of St Mary's Chapel, containing a broken plain wheel-cross. The ring was 0.58m in diameter and the span about 0.72m. The square armpits are sunken only on face (a), where the ring overlies the arms. <1>
See link below to HES Canmore records for photos and sketches of the cross.
Sources/Archives (5)
- --- SHG2132 Text/Publication/Volume: Donaldson, M E M. 1923. Wanderings in the Western Highlands and Islands. 2nd, rev.. 432-3.
- --- SHG2660 Text/Report: RCAHMS. 1980. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Argyll: an inventory of the monuments volume 3: Mull, Tiree, Coll and Northern Argyll (excluding the early medieval and later monuments of Iona). . 134, No. 270; fig. 164.
- --- SHG3080 Text/Publication/Article/Newspaper Article: Rixson, D. 1982. Tantalising clues in an Arisaig burial ground. The Oban Times.
- --- SHG3391 Text/Publication/Volume: Name Book (County). Object Name Books of the Ordnance Survey. Book No. 61, 30.
- <1> SHG22748 Text/Publication/Volume: Fisher, I.. 2001. Early Medieval Sculpture in the West Highlands and Islands. Paper (Original). pp. 123.
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred NM 5312 6999 (10m by 10m) (2 map features) |
|---|---|
| Map sheet | NM56NW |
| Civil Parish | ARDNAMURCHAN |
| Geographical Area | LOCHABER |
Finds (0)
Related Monuments/Buildings (1)
Related Investigations/Events (0)
External Links (2)
- http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/SM7845 (Online designation description (Historic Environment Scotland))
- https://canmore.org.uk/site/22342 (View RCAHMS Canmore entry for this site)
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