Excavation

Date 12 August 2016 - 19 August 2016

Event ID 1023599

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1023599

NM 86066 43501 Portions of the stone-built walls of the nave of Argyll’s medieval cathedral on Lismore were exposed in a recent community excavation, 12–19 August 2016, funded by the HLF and with a contribution from Argyll and Bute Council. The cathedral may have been built in the late 12th, 13th or even 14th century and served the newly created diocese of Argyll. Lismore was probably chosen because of its connection with St Moluag, who was a contemporary of St Columba and some argue a more influential missionary than St Columba, as well as its central geographic location and ease of access by sea.

The surviving walls of the nave are substantial, >1m high and of white dressed sandstone, probably imported from Morven, form a drip course near the base. Fragments of white sandstone that would have lined a window have also been discovered within the old graveyard. The stone walls of the nave were bonded using a shell-rich mortar, and samples of charcoal from the mortar will provide a series of radiocarbon dates, finally revealing when the nave was built. Previous excavators in the 1950s discovered a small building built into the W end of the nave and interpreted this as a tower. However, the recent excavation has shown that at least some of the wall has a soil/sod core, and it is clear that this vernacular construction technique is one which would have been very unlikely to be able to support the weight of a tower; it is anticipated that a future investigation will aim to discover the purpose of this building.

The community excavation has allowed the condition of the remains to be assessed. The nave wall and abutting ‘tower’ wall were structurally very stable. However, water penetration of the walls, caused by overlying silty/clay soil and rubble debris has, and is clearly still having, a detrimental effect upon the survival of mortar and the dressed white sandstone drip course. The human (both articulated and disarticulated) and animal bone encountered was found to be in a moderate to good state of preservation.

Public access into the area of the nave was improved with the construction of a wooden gateway that allowed level entry from the modern cemetery. A colour information board was produced and is displayed upon this gate. The site was cleared of debris and a new fence with two gated points of access was also erected around the nave to ensure stock control and avoid unnecessary poaching of the site and

potentially sensitive archaeological deposits.

Archive: NRHE (intended)

Funder: Heritage Lottery Fund, and Argyll and Bute Council

Clare Ellis – Argyll Archaeology

(Source: DES, Volume 17)