Lochearnhead

NN52SE 3 5985 2306.

(NN 5985 2306) A crannog (Blundell 1923) on Loch Earn near Edinaple rests on a foundation of timber (Blundell 1913).

F O Blundell 1913; 1923.

An obviously artificial island but showing no evidence of a crannog; no indications of a causeway were found between it and the shore of the loch. On the south edge of the island are the footings of a small rectangular stone building of no great age; it measures 6.0m E-W by 3.0m N-S over walls 0.7m thick. To the east of this building is a short length of dry-stone walling. No other features were seen on the island.

Visited by OS (W D J) 11 December 1968.

No change to previous field report.

Visited by OS (J R L) 20 March 1979.

NN 598 230 This crannog consists of a low stony mound constructed on a timber foundation. On it there are the remains of a building (measuring 6m from E to W by 3m transversely over walls 0.7m thick) and a length of walling, both of unknown date.

RCAHMS 1979; Statistical Account (OSA) 1794; F O Blundell 1913

In 2004, a new initiative was set up to examine crannogs in Perthshire. The county has a wide range of geological conditions and the difference in types of lochs reflects this. Some are shallow with farmland and natural woodlands while others are deeper, often with more barren surroundings. The range is likely to produce crannogs of different forms and possibly different functions. The surviving Pont manuscript maps (1580s-90s) and the Blaeu atlas (1654) show many thousands of settlements, including loch dwellings. The work in the summer of 2004 involved surveying a series of these islands and, where possible, collecting samples for dating evidence. The results produced a range of dates from the Early Iron Age up to the recent past. All the dates quoted are preliminary and so, at present, have no laboratory number.

NN 598 231 Loch Earn, Edinample Crannog. A tree-covered island (NN52SE 3) at the W end of Loch Earn belonged to the Campbells in the early 17th century. It is clearly of artificial construction, with the remains of a vertical stone wall and three boat noosts around the perimeter, and the foundations of stone structures on the top. Two large oak timbers project from the N side about 1m underwater, and other timbers were noted deeper down around the bottom edge of the site with associated organic material including charcoal, burnt bone and animal teeth. A timber from the deeper remains on the W side gave a date of 1200 BP (AD 750).

Sponsors: Perth & Kinross Heritage Trust, Scottish Trust for Underwater Archaeology, Mr Halliwell, Tom Coope, Mr Brian Souter, Drummond Estates, Mr Orrock.

N Dixon and M Shelley 2004

A summary of the work carried out by the Scottish Trust for Underwater Archaeology in 2004 is included in The University of Edinburgh's 50th Annual Report, 2004.

N Dixon 2004