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Archaeology Notes
Event ID 678008
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Archaeology Notes
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/678008
NN74SW 3 7207 4430.
There is an artificial island in Fernan Bay (NN 7244) which can be seen in low water and which is marked by a pole.
F O Blundell 1913
There are two great cairns in shallow water, close to the shore below Fearnan. One is exactly opposite the Hotel, and the other lies about 300 yds S.
W A Gillies 1938
The "two great cairns" noted by Gillies are distinguishable as submerged stone platforms some 30m offshore at N 7207 4430 and NN 7230 4429. The former is said to be exposed in a dry summer and composed of a mass of large stones with a level top; the size of neither is determinable. Their age and purpose is unknown, but as they are by a village and near old piers they may be of no great antiquity (text from "The Scotsman" Magazine,vol.2, no.4, July 1981).
Visited by OS (JB) 2 October 1975 and (JRL) 5 December 1978
This crannog is situated 50m from the N shore and 'just off' the pier at Tigh-an-Loan Hotel, Fearnan. It measures between 28m and 33m in diameter, and the highest point (which has probably been built up to hold a marker-post) is about 0.9m below the normal level of the loch; at its base it measures about 2m in depth towards the shore and about 4.5m on the opposite side. In 1979 examination revealed structural timberwork (including a 'beam with a mortice slot') on and around the crannog; one of the piles was dated by radiocarbon assay to 525 +/- 55 BC (GU-1322).
This crannog is probably the 'great' cairn noted by Gillies 'exactly opposite the Hotel'; it may also be the 'Island in Fernan Bay' seen by Mitchell and said to be 'marked with a pole to prevent the steamer or boats striking it'. It is probably also the crannog noted by Oakley at NN c.715 442.
G E Oakley 1973; T N Dixon 1983; I Morrison 1985.
A summary of the work carried out by the Scottish Trust for Underwater Archaeology in 2004 is included in The University of Edinburgh's 50th Annual Report, 2004.
N Dixon 2004.
