Bruach Mhor, St Michael's Chapel

NN 5872 9378 A chapel and burial ground are recorded at St Michael's Chapel (NN59SE 1). During a visit in July 2004, a

carved stone was noted near the centre of the enclosure. The stone had been noticed before but not adequately described. The stone in question, the only upright stone of any size within the enclosure, is leaning. About 1m tall, it seems to be the lower part of the shaft of a stone cross. It is a regularly shaped rectangular-section shaft, and at the top there is a marked broadening on the SE side, as if this were the beginning of the 'armpit' of the arm of the cross.

One side (facing roughly NE) is carved in relief, clearly showing in the lower half two beasts facing each other, with three-fold snouts nearly touching (?a pair of lips and a tongue each), upright, with their legs also pointing towards each other. Their ears and eyes are also visible.

The other side, facing roughly SW, appears to have been carved with a cross, with a saltire at the bottom and a strangely asymmetrical lower shaft with possible horizontal marking (very faint and not entirely convincing) at the 'arm pit' on the SE side.

The sides of the shaft (NW and SE) are also carved, with saltires, and at the bottom of the NW side three small smooth hemispherical bosses are clustered together in a group about 13cm across.

The presence of a significant piece of early carving suggests that the church once enjoyed a certain status. It is only about 900m from the fort of Dún Da Lamh, evidently a centre of some power and strategic importance, controlling an important passage through Scotland's central massif.

G Markus 2004