Cladh Rivigill

NC74NW 1 7291 4946

(NC 7291 4946) Cladh Rivigill (NAT)

Burial Ground (NR)

OS 6" map, (1962)

Cladh Righ-Geal (Information from local informants to OS, 1873) or Cladh Rivigill (Information from a county map seen by OS surveyor, 1873). 'A mound around which there is an old wall ... on a knoll. In former years it was used as a grave yard ... the measuring of Righ Geal cannot be ascertained'.

Name Book 1873.

Cladh Rivigill. A disused graveyard. The few flat slabs that are exposed bear no inscription or symbolical markings.

RCAHMS 1911, visited 1909.

Horsburgh (1870) states "On mentioning the Red Priest stone (NC74NW 2) I should have stated that not very far from it there is a knoll, surrounded by a dyke called Croc-an-sagairt (Hillock of the Priest) on which are the remains of his church. (ie. The Red Priest =? St. Maelrubha d.722). The old church of Farr (NC76SW 11) is said by the people to have been built with stones carried away from this place". OPS (1855) places 'Cnoc-an-tsagairt' immediately west of NC74NW 2 but the topographical description is rather muddled, and Horsburgh's description sounds very like ONB (1873).

(Visible on RAF air photographs 106G/Scot/UK/70: 3365-6; flown 9 May 1946).

Orig Paroch Scot 1855; J Horsburgh 1870.

A small disused burial ground situated on the summit of a knoll, and measuring about 20m by 10m within a drystone wall. A few small stones and two slabs embedded in the ground may mark graves. There is no associated local tradition.

Visited by OS (J L D) 6 May 1960.

Cladh Rivigill (Name unconfirmed), a disused graveyard as described by previous OS surveyor. The name Cron-an-sagairt (presumably Cnoc an t'Sagairt), to which Horsburgh (1870) refers, is not known locally.

Visited by OS (J B) 15 January 1979.

Scheduled as Cladh Rivigill, burial ground and possible chapel site.

Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 11 October 2002.

NC 729 494 In November 2001 the site of a burial ground at Rhifail (NC74NW 9), which lies on one of several natural mounds, was surveyed. An incomplete wall encloses the top of the mound; it is vestigial on the W and E arcs. Where the wall is visible, it is around two to three courses and appears to have an outer and inner face of stone with an infill of smaller stones.

Within the enclosing wall, an initial survey tried to identify all possible features beneath the turf. There were no visible graveslabs, but a number of small stones which appeared to be header and footer stones. Investigations revealed ten features, eight of which were graveslabs and two were clusters of stones of unclear purpose. A number of other slabs were discovered between the exposed slabs, but were not exposed.

The site and exposed features were described, sketched, photographed and recorded on the plane table. The chapel site was not identified. There was an area of stone scatter on the N arc within the enclosing wall.

There was an empty area on the SE arc where the mound had slumped and lost the wall-line. Either of these areas could be the site of the chapel, depending on the build material. The adjacent mound was looked at, but had no features.

The S side of the chapel mound had a circular area below it where there might have been the vestigial remains of structures or it may be an area of field stone covered with turf.

Full report deposited in Highland SMR.

Sponsor: NOSAS.

M Ruscoe 2002.