Archaeology Notes

Event ID 725912

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/725912

NX43NE 6 47962 36227.

(NX 4796 3622) St Ninian's Kirk (NR) (Remains of)

OS 6" map (1957)

St Ninian's Chapel was repaired and partly rebuilt in 1898 by the Marquess of Bute, its essential features being preserved. As it now stands it is rectangular, measuring internally 31' x 16' 6". This building was probably erected c.1300 to replace a 12th-early 13th century chapel, whose foundations were found by Radford's excavations.

C A R Radford and G Donaldson 1953; C A R Radford 1957

It consisted of a nave, 17' 6" x 16' 6" with a c.12' square chancel.

The chapel stood within a contemporary enclosure wall, part of which is still standing. Thomas, however, considers that Radford's plan is erroneous, giving the dimensions of the contemporary enclosures as 50' x 60', following the chapel outline; and he states that there is an outer enclosure, best seen in oblique sunlight, defining a roughly oval area 100' x 110'. This bank is much lower than the inner one, and is built with some fairly large rocks. Radford's plan appears to show the S part of the inner, and the N part of the outer enclosure, though Thomas states that excavation is required to prove his enclosure. If correct, he suggests that the outer enclosure represents a Celtic period. There are no records of its use as a burial ground, and the insertion of the inner, presumably later, enclosure wall, suggests that the outer bank was either ruinous, or more probably, no longer recognised for what it had been. He compares this site with Chapel Finnian (NX24NE 2), a medieval chapel standing in an older cille.

Radford's excavations produced no evidence of an early site, a Dark Age clay mould found was considered to have come from the nearby promontory fort (NX43NE 8). Under guardianship.

C Thomas 1961; RCAHMS 1912

As described. All that remains of the outer enclosure wall shown by Thomas, are turf-covered footings 1.2m wide on the N and NW side of the chapel. On the S side, however, is a section of rebuilt walling 10.0m long and 1.4m wide of his inner enclosure.

Revised at 1/2500.

Visited by OS (IA) 16 January 1973