Crarae Gardens, Furnace, Argyll & Bute

As part of the current Heritage Lottery Funded project to improve the National Trust for Scotland’s property at Crarae Garden, near Furnace, Mid-Argyll, new offices, sheds and storage units for the garden staff are proposed in the area immediately to the north-east of the graveyard. Although there were no known archaeological sites within the proposed development area, it is situated adjacent to the early church site of Killevin, and only 40m away from a Neolithic chambered cairn. On the opposite side of the Crarae Burn and about 100m to the north-east are the remains of Fairy Knowe, a burial cairn of probable Bronze Age date. Given the topographical location of the development site, above the burn, close to where it enters Loch Fyne, it was considered that there was a high chance of locating archaeological features, some of which may be associated with the range of funerary monuments or even settlement remains. 

The graveyard beside Crarae Garden is the site of an early church, Killevin, or Cill Eibhinn, and was the original parish church for Kilmichael Glassary. In the northern corner of the graveyard is a stone-built mausoleum dated 1707, used by the Campbells of Lochbuie. A possible 8th or 9th century cross-shaft or pillar was built into the east wall of the graveyard, but this has since been moved to Cumlodden church 3.5km to the north-east. A recent topographic survey of the churchyard has identified a curving bank possibly forming an earlier graveyard enclosure, and the foundations of a building extending to the west of the mausoleum. 

Prior to any construction work for the new garden facilities an archaeological evaluation was carried out by CFA Archaeology Ltd, which quickly revealed that further large scale excavation work would be required. In June 2006, a team from CFA, ably assisted by 10 volunteers and several groups from local primary schools, undertook the work. An area measuring 31m by 24m was stripped of topsoil and excavated.

Two linear ditches running parallel to the burn were the main discoveries. The inner ditch, closest to the graveyard, was the widest and deepest. Along its inner edge there was a slight terrace, which appears to have formed the foundation for a stone bank or rough wall. The stone from this bank had collapsed into the ditch, and included burnt and unburnt animal bone, metal artefacts and a lot of pottery. Over 400 pottery sherds have now been identified as medieval in date, probably belonging to the 14th-15th centuries. One group of sherds, from the very base of the ditch, were from a medieval Spanish amphora. The most exciting find, however, proved to be an iron arrowhead with a leaf shaped blade and tubular socket.

The outer ditch was narrower, shallower, and had a 3m wide break, which appears to have been an entrance gap. This ditch contained many rounded stones and quite a lot of pottery. The entrance gap appears to line up well with an elongated area of paving positioned inside the inner ditch, which could be the remains of a roadway leading up from the entrance to the church. This might also explain a dark stain at the base of the inner ditch, which could be the remains of a timber sill beam to support a bridge. A series of postholes to the south-east of the paved roadway may represent the remains of a timber building, perhaps as much as 7m long by 5m wide.

Initial thoughts are that the ditches are boundary ditches, which probably once had stony banks on their inside edge forming an enclosure around the medieval church site. Although many of the artefacts found in the ditches were medieval, it is possible that the ditches were cut at an earlier period. Many early church sites are often enclosed by ditches, for example on Iona. The area around the church may have been the focus for a settlement, and it may have formed a focus for exchanging/trading goods and also for limited manufacture. Evidence was recovered for metalworking on the site.

Post-excavation analyses of the artefacts and ditch deposits will now be carried out and a final report produced. The work to date has already given an amazing picture of life in medieval Crarae, and there is undoubtedly more to be discovered.

Melanie Johnson and Derek Alexander (NTS)
(This article was previously published in Scottish Archaeological News)