Archaeology Notes

Event ID 845657

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/845657

NM84SE 5 86079 43497

(NM 8609 4350) Church and remains of (NAT)

St Moluag's Cathedral (NR)

OS 1:10,000 map, (1976).

For sanctuary marker at NM 8609 4342, see NM84SE 17.

For cross, see NM84SE 5.01.

This was the cathedral church of the medieval diocese of Argyll, frequently known as Kilmaluag. The remains consist of an aisle-less choir, now serving as a parish church, the site of a NE chapel or sacristy, and the excavated foundations of an aisle-less nave and added west tower. Although St Moluag founded a religious community on Lismore during the 6th century, there are no remains which can with certainty be ascribed to the early Christian period, and it is likely that the cathedral occupied the site of an earlier church dedicated to St Moluag, an Irish saint (St Lugaidh). However, it is interesting to note that the field boundaries to the north, east and south from a rough circle, of about 240 metres in diameter which may indicate the original line of a vallum similar to those which enclosed certain early monastic sites.

The combined dimensions of the medieval nave and choir were about 38 metres by 7.2 metres within walls which, on average, were about 1 metre thick. The south wall of the choir is divided into three bays by projecting buttresses, each bay containing a round-headed window of 18th century date, while in the cental bay, there is an original round-headed doorway which continued in use until 1900 when restoration work was carried out. The NE and SE angles are also buttressed. The west wall of the choir contains a large, semi-circular headed doorway which served as the main entrance until the restoration work of 1900 during which the belfry which surmounted the west wall was moved to the east gable. At the same time, the two rectangular windows above the doorway in the west wall were replaced by a central, circular window and a new main doorway was formed in the east wall, the outer walls of an old forestair being incorporated into a porch. Excavations in 1970 confirmed the belief that a chapel had existed in the NE of the original building.

Only the western portion of the nave has been excavated, but it had a total length of 20.7 metres and a width identical with that of the choir. There is evidence of buttressing at the north and south corners of the west wall where it joined the nave portion of the building, and the position of a south door to the nave has been identified. The small tower which adjoined the west wall of the nave is of later construction, probably late medieval. Many medieval carved stone slabs are to be seen in the churchyard.

RCAHMS 1975, visited June 1970.

A Brown and A A M Duncan 1915-61.