Building record MAB35303 - FORFAR LOCH, ST MARGARET'S INCH

Site of chapel and later buildings built upon a crannog.

Site of chapel and later buildings built upon a crannog. Queen Margaret's Inch is the name given to a gravel peninsula running out into the Loch of Forfar. A cell of two monks of the abbey of Cupar Angus is recorded here in 1234 and in 1508 a reference to the chaplaincy of St Margaret's Inch mentions the building and repair of the chapel and houses. A charter at Glamis, of 1605, refers to the island as that formerly called the 'chapel of the Holy Trinity' with the rights for farming and fishing mentioned. Before the loch was partially drained by Lord Strathmore in 1871 it was one of three islands within the loch. The 1781 discovery of the site is recorded in a letter to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, by Dr John Ogilvie in that year. He noted the artificial nature of the construction and describes what are now known to be the eroded remains of timbers, 'with sharp points uppermost and that some of the whinstones had been bedded with heather, some fresh, some petrified'. John Stuart, writing in 1875, noted that the objects brought to light included silver ornaments like ear-rings, about 30 or 40 discs of bone, some of them plain and others finely carved, tusks of boars, wolves, and deer's horns of a great size and 'certain vessels of bronze' deposited at Glamis Castle. The discs are probably chessmen. The Rev Dr Jamieson recorded the traditions that one of the kings of Scotland was buried at the northeast of the island and that the remains of a building and an oven were extant about circa 1802. With the lowering of the water level Jamieson, mistakenly stated that the island was revealed to be 'wholly of an artificial nature'. The crannog was of considerable extent and constructed from 'vast piles of oak', covered with 'prodigious quantities of stones, indiscriminately heaped upon each other, with a considerable stratum of earth above all.' The stakes were seen by Jamieson around the edge and across the centre of the Inch, making it completely artificial in his interpretation. Jamieson also noted a quarry 'in the rising ground' where it is alleged the materials for the crannog came and the ditch across the peninsula. The NSA (1845) also records the artificiality of the Inch and the tradition that Queen Margaret (1070-93) had a residence on it, hence the name, now known to be a later renaming. In 1864 the water was unusually low and the extent of the peninsula, leading into the centre of the loch, was revealed. Lord Strathmore decided on excavations, recorded by John Stuart. With the water level low enough, the true nature of the peninsula became apparent, that it is a natural gravel ridge, tested by digging various sections across the Inch. The settlement on the highest point was found to be isolated by the digging of a ditch, making a possible promontory fort, and the inadequate narrow natural surface was widened at the north by piling with birch and oak, and covered with midden. Cutting through the centre of this platform, the natural gravel was discovered. The higher surface was created from soil from the shore and was found to contain pits with pieces of pottery and pieces of animal bone present in some. The south of the site was reinforced by piling and large stones. When re-visited by the OS in 1958 there were no visible signs of the crannog. The remains of the ditch across the promontory, 4 m wide and 1 m deep were visible as a thickly overgrown and slight bank 0.2 m high on the southern tip and as an even slighter bank 0.1 m high on the north. Two fragments of walling, possibly revetting for the chapel cross the ridge east-west where the crest begins to fall on the southwest. They lay 6 m apart, one slightly below the other. They were noted only at a point where a well-worn footpath runs along the length of the ridge. In 1974, midden material, which included burnt daub and six sherds of glazed mediaeval pottery (representing at least five vessels), was recovered from molehills on the Inch. A further stray discovery occurred in 1992, when a tiny stone, bearing natural geological markings in the form of a cross was discovered on the crannog site. The stone measures 0.17 m x 0.11 m x 0.04 m and is of horneblende schist, which is not local to Angus. It has been shaped by hand. It is now in the Meffan Institute, Forfar. Proposed development for a new stores building for the sailing club AT NO 441 506 necessitated the hand excavation of three trial trenches in November 1995. These revealed well-preserved archaeological levels close to the present surface down to a depth of at least 1.1 m. The archaeology comprised stratified layers and features such as a stone wall and stone spreads. Their dating is uncertain, but the pottery recovered would suggest the medieval period. The foundation design for the new building was considered to be non-destructive to the archaeological levels and further work was not required.

, (Photograph). SAB27275.

JAMIESON, 1822, An account of remains of antiquity in Forfarshire, 19-20 (Bibliographic reference). SAB917.

NSA, 1845, [Untitled], Vol. 11, (Forfar), 346, 695 (Bibliographic reference). SAB6234.

Stuart, J, 1868, Excavations at St Margarets Inch PSAS 6: 31-4, 125 (Bibliographic reference). SAB9892.

STUART, J, 1874, NOTE OF RECENT EXCAVATIONS AT ST MARGARET'S INCH, IN THE LOCH OF FORFAR. IN PSAS 10 (1872-3), 31-4, 31-4 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1753.

Piggott, C M, 1955, Proc Soc Antiq Scot 87, 151 (Bibliographic reference). SAB6549.

Mechan and Burnett, G and A, 1974, Discovery and Excavation, Scotland, 9 (Bibliographic reference). SAB11119.

Adams, D G, 1984, [Untitled], 12, 30 (Bibliographic reference). SAB12096.

RCAHMS, 1984, [Untitled], 13, No. 50 (Bibliographic reference). SAB9369.

C ACHART, R, 1996, QUEEN MARGARET'S INCH, LOCH OF FORFAR DES 1996: 12, 12 (Bibliographic reference). SAB3929.

RCAHMS, 2003, EARLY MEDIEVAL SCULPTURE IN ANGUS COUNCIL MUSEUMS (Bibliographic reference). SAB1613.

RCAHMS, 2003, EARLY MEDIEVAL SCULPTURE IN ANGUS COUNCIL MUSEUMS (Bibliographic reference). SAB1613.

STRATIGOS, M J, 2013, THE CRANNOGS OF NORTHEAST SCOTLAND: QUANTIFYING THE RESOURCE. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON MA DISSERTATION (Bibliographic reference). SAB1743.

Record last edited

Aug 31 2023 2:13PM