Loch Lomond, Inchcailloch, Church Of St Kentigerna And Burial Ground

NS49SW 1.00 41104 90614

(NS 4109 9061) Church (NR) (Ruins of)

OS 6" map, Stirling, 2nd ed., (1923).

NS49SW 1.01 NS 41089 90603 Gravestone

The parish of Buchanan was formerly named Inch-cailleach after the island in Loch Lomond on which the church stood. The OSA notes that Inchcailleach means "the island of the old women", and that the place was so called because a community of nuns once existed there; but no such community is, in fact, on record, and no remains of any structure which might have been a nunnery are known. On the hand, "nun" (ie. "cowled woman") is an early meaning of "cailleach", and the form of the place-name, with its suggestion of the plural number, would agree well enough with this tradition; while if the reference had been to Saint Kentigerna, the Irish saint who settled here as a recluse and died in 733, a form more reminiscent of the singular (eg. Inch na Cailliche) might perhaps be expected.

The church was abandoned in 1621, its place being taken by a chapel-of-ease near Buchanan Old House. Its remains lie, with a graveyard, on rising ground and now consist merely of grassy foundation-banks heavily overgrown with brambles, bushes and small trees. The site was excavated in 1903 by the Rev. W H MacLeod, who found that the church measured internally 64'6" by 19'4", the wall-thickness being 3'3"; the length as he gave it was verified by the Commission's officers who found the northern corners still exposed. He further located a chancel wall 23'6" from the inside of the E end, with traces of what was probably a chancel arch 3'6" wide; also a door, 2'10" wide, at the W end of the S wall and a priest's door 2'6" wide set with its E jamb 17'10" from the E end. He tentatively ascribed the building to the end of the 12th or the beginning of the 13th century, a conclusion which is supported by the arch and doorway mouldings which he recovered from the ruins.

The graveyard that surrounds the church is enclosed by a drystone wall which, however, has taken the place of an earlier wall, some remains of which can still be seen. The later wall has contracted the enclosed area by some 6' on either side and by as much as 32' on the NE, where in fact it traverses the foundations of the church itself at an average distance of 9'6" inwards from the E (ie. the NE) end. Enough traces of the earlier wall remain to show that it had widely rounded corners, and it seems possible that one of these corners, located on the edge of a rocky scarp immediately SE of the Church, was misunderstood by the excavator and led to his marking a small circular building in this position. Otherwise nothing resembling a "cell" was found by the Commission's officers.

Several gravestones, dating form the 13th - 17th centuries, exist in the graveyard.

W H Macleod 1901; R Brydall 1906; RCAHMS 1963.

As described.

Surveyed at 1:10,000.

Visited by OS (I A) 23 March 1973.

NS 410 906 The remains of this church may be ascribed to the first half of the 13th century. It served as the parish church of lnchcailleach until its abandonment in 1621. Apart from the place-name there is no evidence to support the claim that there was a nunnery here. A number of architectural fragments and carved stones found during the clearing and consolidation of the church are preserved on the site.

OSA 1793; W H MacLeod 1901; R Brydall 1906; RCAHMS 1963

Orientated NE to SW, the church measures 21.80m by 8m over walls 1m thick. There are two entrances in the S wall and traces of the location of the chancel arch.

The chapel is dedicated to St Kentigerna who died in 733. The church was excavated by Rev W H MacLeod in 1903 who dated the structure to the early 13th century on the basis of the church plan, size and the style of its architectural mouldings. The burial ground and chapel is described in (RCAHMS 1963) and the RCAHMS surveyors support the late 12th century or early 13th century date.

The burial ground and chapel was cleared by the Islay Archaeological Survey Group in 1964. A trench was excavated at the SW corner of the burial ground to examine the original enclosure wall. The wall was found to be built of drystone boulders and smaller stones, to be between five and six feet wide and surviving to up to two feet high. The line of the original enclosure wall is clearly visible for the majority of its extent.

The standing enclosure wall is of 19th century date and it was modified and rebuilt in 1966 when it was extended to the E to go around rather than across the chapel. John Mitchell, former Loch Lomond Nature Reserve Warden supervised and carried out the wall re to alignment and repair. Mr Mitchell reports that a number of grave stone fragments along with the moulded window fragments were removed from the 19th century enclosure wall and these are now stored along the N wall of the burial ground. Child burials were found beside the N wall which is quite a common burial place for unbaptised babies.

John Mitchell also supervised the clearance and repair of the chapel. The church was cleared of overgrowth and the flag stone floor was revealed. Skeletons were found to lie immediately beneath the flags but these were not disturbed. The chapel interior was filled with about one foot of earth and turf brought over from Balloch Castle to cover the interior and the walls where it had the desired effect of holding the walls together. Other works included the removal of iron railings from around the Mitchell plot which were recycled to form the step pegs for the steps on the Nature Trail. John Mitchell also notes that Stone 1 in the burial ground has fallen and been put back up back to front.

A silver penny from the London Mint of Edward I, 1272 to 1307, was found outside the S enclosure wall.

A full survey of the graveyard was undertaken for Scottish Natural Heritage by Firat Archaeological Services, updating a survey of c.1967.

FIRAT 1993; NMRS, MS/993/2

Four islands in Stirling District were part of Phase 1 of the Loch Lomond Islands Survey which took place in March 1995. All island reports are abbreviated from full report. Only feature lists attached. Full reports in the NMRS and Central Region SMR.

NS 4111 9060 Chapel foundations and burial ground with fifteen grave slabs.

Sponsors: Friends of Loch Lomond and National Trust for Scotland.

F Baker 1995.