Field Visit

Date 20 August 1996

Event ID 930511

Category Recording

Type Field Visit

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/930511

(Location amended to NG 2695 0553). Nothing is now visible of the chapel and burial-ground which once stood at A'Chill. Dedicated to St Columba, the chapel was recorded in ruinous condition by Pennant in the early 1770's and likewise in a report by the British Fisheries Society (cited by Campbell) in 1788, where reference is made to the overgrown nature of the ruins in which 'the shape of a window' could be made out. This report also mentions a cross (NG20NE 2) and burial-ground, all of which lay at the heart of the township known as Keill (NG20NE 45). The buildings and enclosures of Keill are shown on an estate map of 1805, together with what may be a depiction of a cross; the area was cleared of tenants in 1851 and no trace of the township or chapel can now be seen.

In 1994, a geophysical survey of this area was carried out by a team led by John Hunter of Bradford University. This was followed up by selective trial trenching to confirm the identification of a rectangular structure located to the WNW of the free-standing cross NG20NE 2. On excavation, the mortared foundations of the N and W walls of the structure were seen to overlie a flagged stone surface, while the interior revealed a dark, compressed floor surface containing evidence of burials. Although by no means conclusive, the form of construction is suggestive of an important building such as a chapel. A further wall running parallel to the N wall of the structure was interpreted by Hunter and Roberts as the boundary wall of the churchyard.

The site of the chapel and burial-ground lie centrally within a natural amphitheatre, created by ridges of outcrop to the E and W, and steep sloping ground to the N. The fragments of the cross shaft and the sculptured grave slab are as described by the OS in 1972.

Visited by RCAHMS (ARG), 20 August 1996

T Pennant 1790; J L Campbell 1984; J Hunter and C Roberts 1994.