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Islay, Lagavulin, Cill Mhoire
Burial Ground (Medieval)
Site Name Islay, Lagavulin, Cill Mhoire
Classification Burial Ground (Medieval)
Alternative Name(s) Cill Maire
Canmore ID 38003
Site Number NR44NW 25
NGR NR 40191 45804
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/38003
- Council Argyll And Bute
- Parish Kildalton And Oa
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Argyll And Bute
- Former County Argyll
NR44NW 25 4018 4580.
(NR 4019 4580) Cill Maire (NR)
OS 6" map, Argyllshire, 2nd ed., (1900)
Cill Maire, Mary's Church, is an old burial ground enclosed by a circular wall, 4ft to 5ft thick, enclosing an area 27ft in diameter and having an entrance 3ft wide in the NNE. Superficial inspection does not disclose any structure inside, but immediately outside are one or two roughly trimmed stones which may be monumental.
Name Book 1878; W Lamont 1959.
Cill Maire: name unconfirmed. This bracken-covered enclosure, on a level meadow, shows no obvious features of a burial ground. It measures 13.0m in overall diameter, with tumbled stone walling, never of great height, from 2.5 to 3.0m in width and 0.6m high. The stone strewn interior is featureless and there is a simple entrance as described.
Amongst the stone spread on the external south side are two, apparently artificially set, stones, 4.0m apart and both 0.6m high by 0.4m wide. They are naturally pointed, unmarked, and their purpose is obscure. No other structural traces were found in the vicinity.
Nothing is known of this enclosure at Lagavulin Farm, and no finds are reported.
Surveyed at 1:2500
Visited by OS (JRL) 25 June 1978.
Measured Survey (10 May 1976)
RCAHMS surveyed the burial-ground at Cill Mhoire. The plan was redrawn in ink and published at a reduced scale (RCAHMS 1984, 166D).
Field Visit (May 1976)
NR 401 458. These remains, which are evidently dedicated to St Mary (Gaelic, Moire), lie on level ground about 10m from the N bank of the Srath Teamhair. They comprise a well-defined circular enclosure measuring 8.5m in diameter within a drystone rubble wall 2.0m in thickness. The wall survives to a maximum height of 0.8m, and in the NE sector there is an entrance which splays outwards from 0.8m to 1.1m in width.
Immediately outside the E half of the enclosure there are some low earthen mounds, probably field-banks, which extend south-eastwards. A large recumbent slab lies immediately E of the entrance, and two rough field-boulders with squared arrises stand upright on the SE edge of the field-banks. The field in which the enclosure is situated shows evidence of ploughing.
Visited May 1976
RCAHMS 1984
Earth Resistance Survey (28 August 2018 - 31 August 2018)
NR 4018 4580 Detailed topographic and electrical resistance surveys were carried out, 28–31 August 2018, at Cill Mhoire, a possible Early Christian site with the dedication to St Mary, which is situated in a narrow level field next to Abhainn nam Beitheachan 300 yards from where it meets the sea in the Lagavulin Bay. Rig and furrow is visible running along the whole length of the field except for the grassed over circular stone-built structure, designated by the RCAHMS as a possible burial ground, but morphologically better described as a stone-built roundhouse. Adjacent to its E and SE are low earthworks or buried masonry. The site is being investigated as part of the Dunyvaig and Hinterland Assessment Project.
An area of 80 x 40m was surveyed using a RM15 Geoscan resistance meter with twin probe configuration, 0.5m traverse spacing and 1m interval readings, and then at 0.5m interval
readings over the three quarters of the original extent in order to improve resolution and data geometry. The remains of the circular structure stand out as the highest resistance, followed by high resistance anomalies indicative of buried masonry or structures and corresponding to the low earthworks to the E and the SE. In the NW part of the survey area a larger crescentic high resistance anomaly was identified, which could be part of an enclosure. Other fainter anomalies may suggest further archaeological potential. Rig and furrow is visible across the entire plot, the furrows clearly cutting through the high resistance of the possible enclosure.
Report and archive: HES and WoSAS
Funder: Islay Heritage and University of Reading
Darko Maričević, Thomas King and Steven Mithen –
Islay Heritage and the University of Reading
(Source: DES, Volume 19)
Ground Penetrating Radar (31 August 2019 - 3 September 2019)
NR 4018 4580 A ground penetrating radar survey was undertaken at Cill Mhoire (Canmore ID: 38003), a possible Early Christian site with the dedication to St Mary, which is situated in a narrow level field next to Abhainn nam Beitheachan, at Lagavulin Bay. The work took place between 31 August and 3 September 2019. Rig and furrow is visible running along the whole length of the field, except for the grassed over circular stone-built structure, designated by the RCAHMS as a possible burial ground, but morphologically better described as a stone-built roundhouse. The aim of the GPR survey was to investigate a large crescentic anomaly detected by the electrical resistance survey in 2018. One hypothesis is that this could represent the chapel enclosure. The GPR survey confirmed the presence of the crescentic anomaly and identified a possible oval or sub-rectangular structure to the north. Excavation is required to confirm archaeological origin of these anomalies.
Archive: NRHE (intended)
Funder: Islay Heritage, University of Reading
Darko Maričević and Robert Fry - Islay Heritage and University of Reading
(Source: DES Vol 20)
