Lewis, Pigmie's Isle, Luchruban
Hermitage (Early Medieval)(Possible), Monastic Settlement (Early Medieval)(Possible), Settlement (Prehistoric)(Possible), Unidentified Pottery (Neolithic)
Site Name Lewis, Pigmie's Isle, Luchruban
Classification Hermitage (Early Medieval)(Possible), Monastic Settlement (Early Medieval)(Possible), Settlement (Prehistoric)(Possible), Unidentified Pottery (Neolithic)
Alternative Name(s) Butt Of Lewis; Eilean Na Luchrupain
Canmore ID 4420
Site Number NB56NW 4
NGR NB 50781 66013
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/4420
- Council Western Isles
- Parish Barvas
- Former Region Western Isles Islands Area
- Former District Western Isles
- Former County Ross And Cromarty
NB56NW 4 50781 66013
(NB 506 661) Luchruban (NAT)
OS 6" map, Ross-shire, 2nd ed., (1898)
On the sea coast about 1 mile WSW of the Butt of Lewis is a precipitous grass-covered rock, rising some 60 - 70ft above the sea, and isolated from the mainland by a deep cleft. It is known as Luchruban and has been identified with the 'Eilean na Luchrupain', or Isle of Pigmies or Little Men, recorded by Dean Munro in about 1549, and later writers.
At the SE corner of the summit, which measures about 80ft - 70ft, is a building, built partly underground, which lies NE-SW and comprises an almost circular chamber about 10ft in diameter at the SW end, connected by a passage 9ft long and 2ft wide to a rectangular chamber 8ft long and 5 1/2ft wide. There is an entrance to the passage from the S, and opposite this on the other side there is a recess.
Captain Thomas (F W L Thomas 1890) mentions that within the gallery at the time of his visit, a stair of seventeen steps led up to a third gallery, and underneath them a smaller stair led down from a second but with no exit. Though the gallery walls still remain as shown on his plan, there is now nothing to suggest that stairs ever existed here. The foundations of later buildings were noted within the interior.
Excavated by Mackenzie who found animal and bird bones, peat-ash, and sherds of pottery identified by Stevenson (R B K Stevenson 1948) as Neolithic, but the context in which they were found is not clear.
The structure is enclosed within a turf-covered stone dyke on three sides.
W C Mackenzie 1905; Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1916; RCAHMS 1928; R B K Stevenson 1948.
NB 5078 6600. This structure has deteriorated markedly since it was visited by RCAMS in 1928, and is now masked by tumble and vegetation. The inner wall-face of the circular compartment with the recess, and part of the inner wall-face of the rectangular enclosure are all that remain intelligible. There may well be more structures within the enclosure.
The topographical situation, the plan and the tradition of a chapel suggest that this may well be an early Christian oratory or hermitage. The Neolithic pottery could come from an earlier occupation of the site as it was found by 'digging up the floor of the so-called kirk, and between the upper layer of loam and the lower of sea sand'.
Surveyed at 1:2500
Visited by OS (R L) 16 June 1969.
Probable Early Christian hermitage comprising oratory and cell linked together with a passage (A C Thomas 1971).
A C Thomas 1971; L R Laing 1975.
Scheduled as Luchruban, prehistoric and monastic settlements.
Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 24 January 1994.
This Chapel site was included in a research project to identify the Chapel sites of Lewis and the surronding islands. The Lewis Coastal Chapel-sites survey recorded 37 such sites, with an additional five possible ecclesiastical sites.
R Barrowman 2005
Field Visit (28 July 1921)
Luchruban, Pigmies' Isle, Butt of Lewis.
On the sea-coast barely 1 mile west-southwest of the Butt of Lewis is a precipitous grass-covered rock rising some 60 or 70 feet above the sea, and isolated by a deep cleft from the mainland. It is known as Luchruban, or the Pigmies' Isle. The ascent is dangerous, though it can be made even at high water. At the south-eastern corner of the summit, which measures about 80 feet by 70 feet, is a peculiar construction which has been partly built underground, the interior showing good drystone masonry, but heaped up outside.
The building, which lies north-east and southwest, comprises an almost circular chamber of about 10 feet diameter at the south-western end, connected by a passage 9 feet long and 2 feet wide to a rectangular chamber 8 feet long and 5 ½ feet wide. At approximately right angles to the southern side of this passage, and 2 ½ feet from the rectangular chamber, is the inner opening, 2 feet 2 inches wide, of what seems to be an entrance way about 11 feet long. Opposite this on the other side is a recess 3 ½ feet deep and 2 feet 1 inch at front widening to 3 ½ feet at back, where it is concave on plan. Between this recess and the circular chamber are two small boles, 8 inches broad and 6 inches high and 15 inches broad and 11 inches high respectively, in the wall about 3 feet from the foundation At the bottom of the wall in the south-eastern arc of the circular chamber is a recess 1 foot 4 inches broad, 11 inches high and 1 foot 6 inches deep. There is now no trace of a drain in the floor; the structure as a whole is collapsing. (Figs. 35, 36.)
The circular walling is 3 ½ feet high, and that of the rectangular chamber is 2 ½ feet high.
The whole building has been surrounded by a wall probably of stone, now much dilapidated and measuring 26 feet broad and 1 foot 3 inches high, forming an oval enclosure. While it almost encroaches on the chambers at one point, it is 18 feet distant at another.
Cf. Dean Monro on "The Pigmies Isle." Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., Vol. XXXIX., p. 248; also for character of structure Art. No. 106 (NA74NW 3).
RCAHMS 1928, visited 28 July 1921
OS map: Lewis i.
Note
Title: Chapel-sites on the Isle of Lewis: Results of the Lewis Coastal Chapel-sites Survey
Journal: SCOTTISH ARCHAEOLOGICAL INTERNET REPORTS (e-ISSN: 2056-7421)
Author: Barrowman, R C
Publisher: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Edinburgh
Date: 2020
MCE (2023): Reviewed as part of the GAPR. Publication was completed in 2020. Open Access publication with SAIR. Publication grant-aided by HES.
