Iona, Cladh An Diseart
Burial Ground (Medieval)(Possible), Chapel (Medieval), Cross Incised Stone (Early Medieval), Spring (Period Unknown)
Site Name Iona, Cladh An Diseart
Classification Burial Ground (Medieval)(Possible), Chapel (Medieval), Cross Incised Stone (Early Medieval), Spring (Period Unknown)
Alternative Name(s) Cladh An Disirt
Canmore ID 21666
Site Number NM22SE 7
NGR NM 28983 24829
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/21666
- Council Argyll And Bute
- Parish Kilfinichen And Kilvickeon
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Argyll And Bute
- Former County Argyll
NM22SE 7 28983 24829.
(NM 2898 2482) Cladh an Diseart (NR) (In Ruins)
OS 6" map (1900)
"Cladh and Diseart" - "Burial-ground of the Hermitage" - or "Cladh Iain" - "John's Burial-ground", is an enclosure about 20 yds square, at the west corner of which are two upright granite stones about 4' high, evidently the gate-posts of an enclosure. A third, about 3' high, adjoins, immediately on the north, and the bank or wall of the enclosure itself contains others. Within this enclosure are the remains of a building whose walls are not parallel with those of the enclosure, and which is presumably the building referred to by Skene as being exposed by excavation the foundations of a rude stone oratory, about 26' long by 14' broad, the wall being 2' thick" (W F Skene 1877).
From the east corner a small, cobbled road leads to Port an Diseirt (NM 2900 2467). At the port are two parallel earthen banks (NM 2897 2473) forming a type of dry dock for a boat, still used in the northern isles. All around are the remains of dry stone walls. A lintel stone is said to have lain across the two portal stones of the enclosure, the structure being known as "the Cromlech". It was broken up in 1867.
A heart-shaped granite boulder inscribed with a Celtic cross was found about 150 yds from the enclosure. Its association is not certain as it was being used as a drain cover, but other flat stones are known to have been removed from the enclosure for drain construction. The stone, now preserved in the cathedral, is now known as "St Columba's Pillow" from the fact that a large granite boulder under which St Columba is said to have been buried lies 20 or 30 yds from where it was found. A fragment of a crucifiction cross is known to have come from the enclosure.
It is not possible to be certain of the age of the remains now visible, but the existence of a hermitage on Iona in 747 is implied by an anchorite holding the abbacy in that year, and the "Disertach" of Iona is mentioned in 1164.
Immediately SW of Cladh an Diseart, Reeve's map shows "Leacht", but as he makes no mention of it, it is not known if this is merely a place-name, or if there was in fact a "leacht". (Oval enclosures are mentioned as being seen on air photographs at Cladh an Diseart, in an anonymous note on OS 6" record sheet. These have not been identified).
O G S Crawford 1933; W Reeves 1857; A Ritchie and E Ritchie 1934; J Drummond 1875; W F Skene 1876
The turf-covered remains of a stone wall 10.0m by 5.0m within which is a (?) building 3.0m by 5.0m. There is no real evidence of the enclosure described but at the W end of the stone wall are the three boulders.
The cross-inscribed boulder is in the Abbey Museum.
Visited by OS (JP) 8 June 1972
Site recorded by AOC (Scotland) Ltd during an archaeological survey of the lands controlled by the National Trust for Scotland on Iona. This survey was conducted in late May and early April of 1996. The full report of this survey has been deposited with both the local SMR and the NMRS.
NM 2897 2484 Burial ground
Sponsor: National Trust for Scotland
T Rees 1996
For 'St Columba's Pillow', now in the Abbey Museum, see NM22SE 5.01, no.60.
I Fisher 2001.
Aerial Photography (April 1969)
Oblique aerial photographs of sites and monuments on Iona, Argyll, photographed by John Dewar in 1969.
Field Visit (May 1974)
Cladh an Dìsirt, Iona
These remains, which lie about 400m NE of Iona Abbey and 100m from the shore of the Sound of Iona, comprise the footings of a small rectangular building lying within a walled or embanked enclosure. The internal dimensions of this building, which may have been a chapel, were ascertained by excavations carried out in 1876 to be about 7·9m from WNW to ESE by 4·2m transversely within walls 0·6m in thickness.
The SW side of the enclosure is defined by a dry-stone dyke of fairly recent construction which now serves as a field-boundary. Just beyond the NW end of this dyke there may be seen two massive granite gateposts flanking what has evidently been an entrance to the enclosure. These posts were formerly spanned by a correspondingly massive lintel, which was destroyed some time during the third quarter of the 19th century, and the structure was mistakenly identified by Pococke and Pennant as 'the remains of a Druid Temple' or 'an evident Cromleh'. Traces of earlier footings are also visible at the SE end of the dyke , indicating that the enclosure wall formerly continued in that direction. The NE and SE limits of the enclosure are not now traceable, but part of a low turf-covered bank survives on the NW side. The sw portion of the enclosure is traversed by a comparatively modern track leading to Port an Disirt. Close to the point at which this track skirts the NE corner of the chapel there is a small freshwater spring, while a second spring rises just beyond the NE corner of the enclosure.
The name Cladh an Dìsirt ('the burial-ground of the hermitage') suggests that these remains stand on or close to the site of the ‘dìsirt’ or place of retreat whose superior was named, with other officials of the pre-Benedictine community on Iona, in the Annals of Ulster for 1164. The alternative name Cladh lain (‘St John's burial ground') may indicate that the chapel, which is probably of 12th-century or later date, was dedicated to St John. An Early Christian stone described elsewhere (RCAHMS 1982, No. 6, 60) was found in this locality about 1870, and Drummond mentions a cross-fragment which cannot be identified.
RCAHMS 1982, visited May 1974
Field Visit (September 1980)
(60) Abbey Museum 26, discovered about 1870 some 140m NW of Cladh an Disirt. Water-worn igneous boulder, 0.48m long by 0.40m in maximum width, popularly known as 'St Columba's Pillow'. It bears a ringed
cross-potent with a square expansion at the centre, the spaces between the cross and the ring being slightly sunk.
RCAHMS 1982, visited September 1980
Field Visit (April 1996 - May 1996)
Site recorded by AOC (Scotland) Ltd during an archaeological survey of the lands controlled by the National Trust for Scotland on Iona. This survey was conducted in late May and early April of 1996. The full report of this survey has been deposited with both the local SMR and the NMRS.
NM 2897 2484 Burial ground
Sponsor: National Trust for Scotland
T Rees 1996
Field Visit (April 1996 - May 1996)
A revetted area, 4.0m broad and 9.0m long, is aligned north-west to south-east. A raised area is visible in the centre. Fragments of wall faces are visible, which are 1.0m broad and stand up to 0.5m high.
An enclosure, 42.0m by 30.0 m, is associated with this structure. The enclosure can be traced on three sides; stone walls are visible to the south and west and the northern side is defined by a broad bank. The east side of the enclosure could not be traced, because the area is now reed-covered. An entrance flanked by two gateposts is visible at the south-east of the enclosure. A later trackway runs east to west and cuts the enclosure, running to the north of the structure.
Cladh an Diseart is traditionally translated as the 'burial ground of the hermitage'. Antiquarian records indicate a square burial ground with a chapel. The gateway was originally supposed to have had a horizontal stone supported by the two uprights.
(ION96 018)
Information from NTS (SCS) January 2016
