Archaeology Notes

Event ID 675129

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/675129

NM71NE 2 7633 1665

(NM 7633 1665) Chapel (NR)

OS 6" map, Argyllshire, 2nd ed., (1900)

There was a pre-Reformation chapel at Kilbrandon which Simpson (1935) states was founded by St Brendan c. 545. Its remains are in the small enclosure near the W end of the burial ground, only about 15' of walling standing c. 4' high. It appears to have stood in the centre of the burial ground, the portion on the E having been recently taken in.

The Ordnance Survey Name Book (ONB, 1870) gives an alternative name of Cill Brandon for this chapel, while Watson (1926) gives the name as "Cill Bhrianainn".

New Statistical Account (NSA) 1845; W D Simpson 1935; Name Book 1870; W J Watson 1926.

There are several sculptured stones in the churchyard of the old chapel of Kilbrandon, notably the gravestone of the Maclachlans of Kilbride, which stands just S of the old chapel wall.

W I Macadam 1896.

Six metres of the N wall and a portion of the SE corner only exist, in poor condition. The whole area formerly occupied by the chapel is covered with graves, some tombstones dating back to the early 19th c. The name could not be verified.

Visited by OS (RD) 22 September 1971.

The RCAHMS (1975) suggest that the remains are those of a medieval church rather than of a pre-Reformation chapel.

RCAHMS 1975.

Site included in an archaeological and historical survey.

R Regan, B Black and S Webb, 2004.