Field Visit
Date May 1987
Event ID 1082686
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1082686
The slight remains of this Campbell residence occupy a terrace at an elevation of 65m OD on the hillside 300m NW of Innellan Pier, enjoying a wide view of the Clyde coast and Bute. The surviving fragment of masonry is set mid-way along a natural scarp about 40m in length, and the W half of the platform has been occupied by an angular enclosure about 16m square bounded by low stony banks, with the building at its SE angle.
The surviving S-facing wall is 7m long and 0.85m thick, with a maximum height of about 7m. At ground level there is a narrow splayed opening which has been heavily robbed but retains some fragments of red sandstone, of the type found in the Toward area. Above this opening there is the W jamb of a rectangular window, 1.6m high and wrought with a 70mm roll-moulding; the ingo is splayed, and the sandstone rybats and springer of the arched embrasure remain in situ. A wall abutting this one at right angles appears to be of comparatively modern origin, intended as an open stair and a buttress to prevent the collapse of the original fragment, although its line is continued by some large stones in the E wall of the enclosure.
Knockamillie may have been included in the grant of the adjacent property of Cluniter in 1435 to the founder of the Campbell family of Auchenbreck (No. 1l2) (en1). Archibald, second son of Sir Duncan Campbell of Auchenbreck, was granted this and other lands in 1643 and subsequently used the designation 'of Knockmelling', but his son succeeded to the Auchenbreck estate (en.2). The site is not shown as a settlement of unusual importance on Pont's map of about 1590, and the surviving window details suggest a 17th-century date for thestructure (en.3). 'Mr Alexander Campbell his house' was assessed for three hearths in 1693 (en.4). The building was reported in 1864 as having been robbed during the preceding thirty years (en.5).
RCAHMS 1992, visited May 1987
