Monument record 1413 - MACLEAN'S POINT CEMETERY, BERNERAY

NL58SE 3 5674 8029.

(NL 56748029) Chapel (NR) (Site of).
OS 6"map, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1904)

The burial ground near Maclean's Point, Berneray, is the site of a chapel, all traces of which have disappeared.
RCAHMS 1928, visited 10 June 1915.


Muir, in 1866, noted that the burial ground "is probably ancient, but no objects in it are of any age".
T S Muir 1885.

The Name Book notes that the dedicatory name is unknown.
Name Book 1878.

There are no certain traces of a chapel and burial ground at the published site which is obscured by a drystone enclosure, divided into two parts of a wall, on the E side of which are the footings of several buildings varying in shape and size from 3.6m x 3.6m to 8.5m x 5.3m. There is no local knowledge concerning this site, and no further information could be obtained.
Visited by OS (R B) 18 May 1965.

BY55: An ovoid cemetery c. 35m along itsa axis, enclosed by a wall, and divided into two halves by a cross wall or bank. Burials are found in the eastern half, many of them dug into a large mound, c. 10m in diameter, apparently surfaces with (or made of) beach pebbles. The mound is also slighted by a 5m square building with thick walls built onto the dividing wall. A similar, slightly larger building abuts the wall to the S. This building is partly slighted by a subrectangular building, perhaps a chapel, 9.5m by 5m built into the main cemetery enclosure wall. A smaller sub-square building appears to have been subsequently inserted into the former building. Finally, two blackhouses were built over the cemetery wall on the W side. [See MSS for plan.]
P Foster 1992a; NMRS MSS 595/7, 595/8.

BY55: Burial ground complex of blackhouses, enclosure, platform and mound. Coastal plain. Subcircular drystone walled enclosure (40 x 25m). Within the enclosure the ground is generally raised up to the height of the outer wall-top. Located in a central position within the eastern half is an unenclosed burial mound capped with cobbles and with several grave markers visible, but it is now largely covered by rank iris and nettle overgrowth. Judging by the grave markers and other scattered stones, the area of burial appears to have spread off the mound from the north and out into the enclosure. The cemetery is later reorganized with the introduction of a drystone wall that bisects the enclosure north-south. Along its course, and incorporated in it, are two square earth and stone single-cell buildings (i & h). One (i) in a central position, also appears to be dug into the burial mound, while the other (h) is to the south close to the enclosure wall where a small additional length of walling forms a small square single cell ?barn (c) between the wall and building (h). Building (h) is cut by a subrectangular building of blackhouse proportions (d) that stands inside the cemetery enclosure while also incorporating that wall as its south-east elevation. There is an entrance north-west into the burial ground, but whether an entrance through the south-east wall to the outside was in use at the same time is at present not known. A second, smaller square building sits squarely on top of (d) using this second entrance. The two blackhouses (a) and (b) appear normal dwellings, but any of the other buildings could serve as a chapel.
BY55a: Blackhouse. Subrectangular, 7 x 4.5m, single-cell drystone improved blackhouse with an entrance to the west. The walls are approximately 1m thick and there is a fireplace built into the north end wall. The building is on the outer side of the cemetery enclosure wall, but incorporates it as its eastern rear wall.
BY55b: Blackhouse. Subrectangular, 7.5 x 4.5m, single-cell improved blackhouse almost identical to (a), but with the fireplace built into the south end wall. A grinding saddle quern stone was found in the collapsed stonework by the fireplace.
BY55c: Barn. Square, 4 x 4m, single cell inserted between the cemetery enclosure wall and building (h). The small length of walling put across the gap seems to be a later addition.
BY55d: Blackhouse. Subrectangular, 9 x 5m, single cell with earth and stone wall 0.8 - 0.9m thick. There is a definite doorway into the cemetery to the north east and it is possible that the doorway throught the enclosure wall to the south-east used by building (c) may also be used by (d). It is impossible to determine whether this building is a blackhouse dwelling or of some other function, such as a chapel, but its location inside the enclosure suggest that it may be a religious building.
BY55e: Barn. Square 4 x 4m, single cell barn-sized building with walls of earth and stone constructed on top of and inside (d). The only doorway is to the outside, through the enclosure wall to the south east.
BY55f: Building. The true form of this structure is unclear from the surface evidence. It appears to be about 6m across and to consist of a raised platform of earth and stone that most likely represents a buried walled structure.
BY55g: Burial mound. Circular, diam 10m flat mound capped with stone cobbles. Buidling (i) appears to be dug deeply into the western side, which if tru may suggest that the importance of the mound had been diluted when this took place. Grave markers and other scattered stones to the north of the mound suggest tha the burial area had spread oof the mound in that direction, which would support the possibility that the moudn itself was no longer of prime importance. Two small areas were cleared of undergrowth, which revealed the cobble survace and two grave markers, one with a simple pecked cross and the other with a cup mark.
BY55h: Building. Square, 8 x 8m, single cell apparently without any formal entrance, appearing as a grassy mound with an internal shaped hollow. The earth and stone walls stand 1m high and are over 2m wide in places. The south-east corner is cut by building (d). The burial ground north-south dividing wall appeart to be connected to the north-west corner, continuing to the enclosure wall from the south-east corner. In the space to the south is building (c).
BY55i: Building. Subrectangular, 5.5 x 5m, single cell building with walls of earth and stone up to 2m thick, standing 1m high and without any apparent entrance. This mound-like building is built from the east side of the north-wouth dividing wall and cuts into the west side of the burial mound.
Branigan & Foster 2000 137-138

T S Muir, 1885, Ecclesiological notes on some of the Islands of Scotland, 255 (Bibliographic reference). SWE5959.

RCAHMS, 1928, The RCAHMCS 9th Report & Inventory: Outer Hebrides, Skye and the Small Isles, 137, No. 467 (Bibliographic reference). SWE5587.

P Foster, 1992a, Discovery and Excavation, Scotland, 88 (Bibliographic reference). SWE25420.

Keith Branigan & Patrick Foster, 2000, From Barra to Berneray: Archaeological Survey and Excavation in the Southern Isles ... (Bibliographic reference). SWE41033.