Archaeology Notes

Event ID 699859

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/699859

NS09NW 2 01080 95172

See also NS09NW 6.

(NS 0106 9515) Church (NR) (In Ruins)

Kilmorie Burial Ground (NR)

OS 6" map (1900)

The chapel here is part of the original parish church, othe parish formerly being called Kilmorie (New Statistical Account [NSA] 1845) and was abandoned in 1782, when the present church was built (at NS 0212 9581). The chapel was originally three times as long as it was broad (the medieval dimensions). The foundations of the destroyed part can be traced running out to the W.

The circular burial ground is suggestive of a Celtic site, and Origines (1854) states that tradition, supported by an extant custom, places a church here at the time of the Crusades, though there appears to be no record of the church before 1543. The cemetery was still in use in 1854 as the burial place of the McLachlans. The church of Stralachlan was dedicated to St Malrubh (H Scott 1923).

M Paterson 1970

No certain foundations to the W of the chapel can be traced, although a rectangular hollow is visible. Other than the circular burial ground wall, there is no evidence to suggest an Early Christian site. The chapel has been used as a mausoleum for the McLachlans, and the burial ground is still in use.

Visited by OS (DWR) 29 September 1972

Scheduled as Kilmorie Church, burial ground and cross.

Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 13 March 2001.

INVENTORY OF GRAVEYARD AND CEMETERY SITES IN SCOTLAND REFERENCE:

Address: St Maelrhuba's Chapel Burial Ground, Kilmorie

Postcode: PA27 8BU

Status: In current use for burials

Size: 0.24 hectares, 0.60 acres

TOIDs:

Number of gravestones: 123

Earliest gravestone: 1786

Most recent gravestone: 1997

Description: Burial ground associated with a (ruined) chapel

Data Sources: OS MasterMap checked 23 September 2005; Graveyard Recording Form dated 16 March 2003