Cladh A Chnocain
Burial Ground (Period Unassigned), Cross Slab (Early Medieval)
Site Name Cladh A Chnocain
Classification Burial Ground (Period Unassigned), Cross Slab (Early Medieval)
Canmore ID 4865
Site Number NC40SW 1
NGR NC 4393 0150
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/4865
- Council Highland
- Parish Creich (Sutherland)
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Sutherland
- Former County Sutherland
Cladh a Chnocain, Sutherland, cross-slab
Measurements: H 1.22m, W 0.48m
Stone type: schist
Place of discovery: NC 4393 0150
Present location: in the graveyard lying on a nineteenth-century grave.
Evidence for discovery: recorded in the 1900s in the graveyard, which is near the confluence of the Tutim Burn with the River Oykel.
Present condition: good.
Description
The slab bears a pecked outline cross with a long shaft and rounded armpits.
Date: eighth or ninth century.
References: RCAHMS 1911, no 93.
Compiled by A Ritchie 2016
NC40SW 1 4393 0150.
(NC 43930150) Cladh a Chnocain (NAT)
OS 6"map, (1967)
An old burial ground containing a pre-medieval cross slab and presumably the site of the 'kirk' mentioned by Pont as existing at Knockan about 1600. The slab of schist, covers a modern grave in the NW corner of the burial ground and measures 4' by 1'7". The incised cross, 3' long, is of the plain, long-shafted, Celtic type with expanded terminals and hollowed 'armpits'.
W Macfarlane 1906; RCAHMS 1911.
There is no trace and no local knowledge of a church or chapel within Cladh a'Chnocain (name verified), which is still in use.
The dressed cross slab as described by RCAHMS (RCAHMS 1911) lies loose on the grave of John Thomson (died 1887), the cross being on the underside.
Surveyed at 1:10 000.
Visited by OS (J B) 22 September 1976.
The burial ground is shown as an enclosure on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Sutherland 1878, sheet ci) and is similarly depicted on the current edition of the OS 1:10,000 map (1990).
Information from RCAHMS (SAH) 27 November 1995
Field Visit (30 June 1909)
93. Sculptured Cross, Tutim.
In the NW. corner of the old grave yard which stands on the top of a bank some 300 to 400 yards E. of the shepherd's house at Tutim, in Strath Oykell, is a slab covering a modern grave. It is of the native schist, 4' long by 1' 7" broad, and has incised on its surface a plain long-shafted Celtic cross, with the arms expanded to the extremities and the angles at the intersections hollowed. The ends of the arms are straight, and the base of the stem is rounded. The full length of the cross is 3', the breadth across the arms 1' 6", and the width of the shaft 5"; the arms are 8" in length, and expand from 4" to 5" in breadth.
OS 6-inch map: Sutherland Sheet ci.
RCAHMS 1911, visited (AOC) 30th June 1909.
Field Visit (1 March 2011 - 3 March 2011)
The burial ground is enclosed by a drystone dyke, and there is no indication that it extended further than the enclosed rectangular area. As this site is well recorded and was not investigated in detail.
Information from Catherine Dagg (Highland Archaeological Services) 1 April 2011. OASIS ID: highland4-101460
