Loch Eck, Dornoch Point
Crannog (Period Unassigned)(Possible)
Site Name Loch Eck, Dornoch Point
Classification Crannog (Period Unassigned)(Possible)
Canmore ID 40807
Site Number NS19SW 3
NGR NS 140 946
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/40807
- Council Argyll And Bute
- Parish Strachur
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Argyll And Bute
- Former County Argyll
NS19SW 3 140 946
Island at Dornoch Point. Tradition that Robert the Bruce was entertained on it, and adjacent farm is called 'Island Farm'.
Information from Miss E B Rennie, 1 April 1984.
NS 140 946 2.5km S of the N end of Loch Eck, and 50m offshore from Dornoch Point a small stone island was revealed in the summer drought.
This feature, although now usually visible only as a few stones and dead trees rising out of the water, was marked on the older maps as an actual island and named 'Eilean a' Chocaire'- (the island of cooking or of cooks).
Investigation by A & E Garner and E Rennie in the summer showed that it consists of a flat stony area measuring about 20m in diameter and dropping away steeply into deep water around the circumference.
The nearest farm which is within 500m is known as 'Island Farm'- suggesting a past importance of the island.
The surface of Loch Eck was raised in the 1970s.
E B Rennie 1995.
Field Visit (2003)
NS 1402 9463 The crannog site is a large boulder mound, visible above water only as a low tree-covered island, situated near several bedrock outcrops, and was first noted in 1995 (DES 1995, 68). The site itself does not show any evidence of having utilised natural bedrock, though it does appear to have taken advantage of a gravelly shoal which juts into the loch from the E shore. The main boulder mound is almond-shaped, having basal dimensions of 35 x 42m, and a height from base to top of over 2m. About 95% of the site is submerged; it lies 50m from the closest point on the modern E shore. The water depth between the site and the shore does not exceed 2m, though the site itself is in deeper water.
Around the edges of the mound the site consists of dumped large rounded boulders, averaging 0.7m in diameter. The top of the site is relatively flat, and is composed of smaller boulders and stones overlying loose gravels and inorganic silt. In two places this gravel layer, which is c 5cm deep, could easily be swept back to reveal large parallel oak timbers just beneath the surface. Two sets of four parallel timbers were visible on the SE and S areas of the site, though it could be anticipated that these timbers are to be found across the site. The group to the S are oriented N-S, while those to SE are oriented NW-SE, suggesting that these timbers may be arranged in a radial pattern.
A very large flat oak timber was observed at the base of the mound on the SE corner. Its purpose is unclear, though the size and flattened appearance perhaps suggest that it was structural. Another large rounded horizontal oak timber was seen protruding at the base of the mound at the SW corner, possibly indicating that there is a substantial organic element to the mound beneath the boulder capping.
Full report has been lodged with the NMRS.
Sponsors: Dr J N Marshall (Isle of Bute) Memorial Fund, CBA Challenge Funding, University of Nottingham.
M G Cavers 2003.
