Ruthven
Cup And Ring Marked Stone (Prehistoric), Souterrain (Prehistoric)
Site Name Ruthven
Classification Cup And Ring Marked Stone (Prehistoric), Souterrain (Prehistoric)
Alternative Name(s) Ruthven Church, Souterrain
Canmore ID 30686
Site Number NO24NE 1
NGR NO 28694 48788
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/30686
- Council Angus
- Parish Ruthven
- Former Region Tayside
- Former District Angus
- Former County Angus
NO24NE 1 2868 4878
See also NO24NE 8.
(NO 2868 4878) Earth-house (NR) (Site of)
OS 6" map (1959)
This souterrain was found about the middle of the 19th century, when the path to the church (NO24NE 4) was being made. Its position is marked by a large sandstone slab, apparently from the top of a corbelled wall, now embedded in the path.
According to the Ordnance Survey Name Book (ONB) it contained 3 compartments, artificially built and arched over with dry stones. It is said to have contained 'bits of cinerary urn' - presumably native pottery; 'human bones' - probably animal, and a flattened ring. There was a cup-and-ring marked stone in the roof of this souterrain.
Name Book 1863; J Y Simpson 1868; J D Boyd 1961; F T Wainwright 1963.
No further information.
Visited by OS (WDJ) 23 September 1970
Note (1983)
Ruthven NO 286 487 NO24NE 1
A sandstone slab beside the path leading to Ruthven church marks the position of a souterrain found in the middle of the 19th century. One of the lintel slabs bore cup-and-ring marks.
RCAHMS 1983.
(Name Book, Forfar, No. 78, p. 5; Simpson 1866, 6; Wainwright 1963, 210; DES, 1961, 4).
Field Visit (24 March 1998)
In March 1998, a roofing slab of the souterrain at Ruthven Church was removed during the course of digging a service-trench for pipes and cables; RCAHMS conducted an emergency survey on 26th March and the souterrain was resealed the following weekend.
The souterrain was found about 1859 when the path linking Ruthven Church (NO24NE 4) with the main road to the SE was constructed. The minister, the Rev. Mr Patrick Bartney, was able to tell the compiler of the Name Book only that it contained '3 apartments artificially built and arched over with dry stones'. Simpson notes and illustrates the cup-and-ring marked roofing slab, and all the subsequent accounts of the structure are essentially repetitious, although McPherson states that 'some of the stones were built into the walls and mullions of windows of the new Church', which bears the date 1859 on its N wall. He also notes that the souterrain had contained 'bits of cinerary urns, human bones and a flattened ring'. These were presumably recovered sometime between the Name Book account of 1863 and McPherson writing in 1885, and their present whereabouts are not known. Wainwright provided a good summary of the site and concluded that the fragments of cinerary urns and human bones previously referred to were probably fragments of native pottery and animal bones.
A further element of the souterrain complex is indicated by the discovery about 1962 of a great many slabs (NMRS NO24NE 8) during ploughing about 7m E of the surviving chamber. Mr Lowson, a former tenant of the farm, considered the slabs to most likely represent the remains of a souterrain similar to that underlying the kirkyard path.
The souterrain is situated on the northern edge of a gravel terrace on the right bank of the River Isla about 120m to the SE of Ruthven Kirk (NO24NE 4) and 90m SE of the confluence of the River Isla with the Kirkton Burn, the valley of which lies between the souterrain and the church. Since the 19th century the position of the souterrain has been indicated by a large sandstone slab that protruded slightly from the surface of the path to the Church. The removal of this conglomerate block created a small hole in the roof at the W end of the souterrain, thus allowing access. The size of this stone and of the other roofing-slabs makes it unlikely that the 19th century access to the souterrain was gained through the roof, the narrow passage that adjoins the N side of the chamber being most probably used instead.
The chamber of the souterrain containing the cup-and-ring marked roofing slab is sausage-shaped on plan, measuring 9.3m in length from ENE to WSW by up to 2.3m in width and about 2m in maximum height. The walls of the chamber are constructed of random, dry-stone masonry, comprising mainly angular sandstone slabs and boulders, but with some waterworn stones, and are corbelled to such an extent that the width of the chamber at roof-level has been effectively reduced to as little as 1m. A large amount of soil, measuring at least 1m in depth at the W end, has filtered through into the chamber. At the E end, however, there is a shallower depth of soil but it has been dug into, probably in the 19th century, and the original floor of the chamber has been removed. Further disturbance to the soil deposits may be seen where those entering the chamber via the passage on the N side have literally dug their way in.
This passage joins the N side of the chamber 3m from the W end. It measures 0.8m in width and 2m in height, though the lintel at the junction with the chamber is set only 1.4m high. The passage arcs slightly to the E, but it is choked with earth, and only about 1.5m of the top of the passage is visible. The passage presumably linked the surviving subsidiary chamber to a principal chamber, one of the other chambers noted in the Name Book, and one which linked with the outside world.
The modern service-trench measured 0.5m in width and 0.8m in depth, and, in addition to crossing the W end of the recorded chamber, it clearly cut across the tops of three other features, probably passages, each marked by their fills of dark earth and rubble. The extent of these features, which had been excavated into bright orange natural gravel, were planned in relation to the surviving chamber. No evidence of surviving masonry in the form of walls or roofing slabs was visible and, as far as can be ascertained, the excavation of the modern service-trench appears to have done little more than penetrate deposits which had already been severely disturbed.
The second roofing-slab from the E end of the chamber is decorated on its underside with cup-and-ring markings. The stone was originally illustrated by Simpson, based on a drawing by Dr T Wise; Wise's sketch has proved to be quite an inaccurate depiction even though all of the elements have been included. This stone is a slab of red sandstone which measures at least 1.7m in length by 0.85m in width and 0.3m in thickness, the ends of which are effectively hidden by underlying corbel stones. It bears at least eleven cup-marks, measuring up to 60mm in diameter, two of which are accompanied by single rings, two others are accompanied by two and three rings respectively, and three are small and rather poorly executed, but are linked to three of the ringed cups at the N end of the stone by grooves or channels; there are four simple cups. Simpson's illustration shows the three-ringed cup towards the S end of the stone to be about three-quarters complete, perhaps implying that the carving had already suffered some erosion. But since the 19th century, scaling of the underside of the stone has caused the further loss of about half of what was recorded at that time.
Visited by RCAHMS (JRS), 24 March 1998.
(Name Book 1863; J Y Simpson 1868; J G McPherson 1885; F T Wainwright 1963).
Measured Survey (24 March 1998)
RCAHMS surveyed Ruthven souterrain with plane-table and alidade on 28 March 1998 at a scale of 1:50. A drawing of the cup and ring-marked roofing slab was also produced at a scale of 1:10. The resultant plan and the drawing of the cup and ring-marked stone were redrawn in ink and published at a scale of 1:100 and 1:20 respectively.
