Coll, Ardnish, Maclean Burial Ground
Burial Enclosure (19th Century)
Site Name Coll, Ardnish, Maclean Burial Ground
Classification Burial Enclosure (19th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Crossapol Bay
Canmore ID 21601
Site Number NM15SW 18
NGR NM 14886 52358
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/21601
- Council Argyll And Bute
- Parish Coll
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Argyll And Bute
- Former County Argyll
Built by Alexander MacLean, 15th of Coll, c.1815.
Squareish enclosure, almost folly like in its castellated Gothic detail.
RCAHMS (CAJS) 2012.
NM15SW 18 14886 52358
NM 148 523. MacLean Burial-ground, Ardnish: This small burial-enclosure of the MacLean family stands above the E shore of Crossapol Bay. It is approximately square on plan, the walls varying in length between 7.6m and 7.9m. The principal or N facade, which contains the entrance-gateway, is a mixture of neo-Gothic and castellated styles, and is flanked by a pair of angle-turrets. The masonry is mainly of random rubble, while the dressings are of a reddish- coloured sandstone. The interior is in poor condition, and there are no surviving monuments of interest.
The burial-enclosure was erected as a family mausoleum by Alexander MacLean, 15th of Coll, who died in 1835.
RCAHMS 1980, visited 1973.
Square-plan burial enclosure with prominent 3-bay N façade flanked by tall cruciform-plan ashlar corner towers with carved crucifixes. Pointed-arch entrance and smaller flanking blind arches linked by hoodmould. Stepped parapets to front and rear elevations; three carved sandstone strip details to side elevations and cruciform detail to rear. Rubble walls with sandstone dressings. Battered base course to towers; moulded parapet eaves course to principal elevation and towers; flat copes to wallheads. Margined quoins. Plain wrought-iron gate lying to interior.
The Maclean Burial Place is a well-proportioned memorial with some fine gothic style detailing, of good quality for its date and largely in its original condition. The enclosure is surprisingly ornate for its building type and remote location. The walls are in rubble with vertical sandstone insert details depicting circles and crosses; the rubble is presumed to have been harled when first constructed. The prominent corner towers, pediment and doorpiece are in finely tooled ashlar.
The building is remotely sited on a promontory to the SW of the Breachacha Castles, the former seat of the Macleans of Coll, to which it is directly related (see separate listings).
The burial place was commissioned by Alexander Maclean, 15th of Coll in 1835 on the death of his wife. He, his wife and a family friend were all interred here. When built there was a stone sarcophagus to the centre and an inscribed marble slab on the wall. Remnants of 8 stone finials survive misplaced to the interior and may have originated from either the wallhead or the sarcophagus.
The surrounds of the plaque with marble shell detail remain to the rear wall and a large marble plaque lies face down within the enclosure.
List description Revised 2008. (Historic Scotland)
Photographic Survey (22 April 2008)
Photographed by the Listed Buildings Area Survey, Argyll upgrade programme.
RCAHMS (CAJS) 2012.
