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Neish Island, Loch Earn

Castle (Medieval), Crannog (Period Unassigned)(Possible)

Site Name Neish Island, Loch Earn

Classification Castle (Medieval), Crannog (Period Unassigned)(Possible)

Alternative Name(s) St Fillans; Neish's Isle

Canmore ID 24437

Site Number NN62SE 2

NGR NN 6905 2422

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/24437

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Perth And Kinross
  • Parish Comrie (Perth And Kinross)
  • Former Region Tayside
  • Former District Perth And Kinross
  • Former County Perthshire

Archaeology Notes

NN62SE 2 6905 2422.

(NN 6905 2422) Traditionally there was a fortalice on Neish Island, a small artificial island at the east end of Loch Earn. The island was a residence of the Clan Neish probably from about 1250 to 1420 and inhabited periodically by them until 1622. The keep was a stone building, divided into different chambers, now in ruins. The island was latterly occupied by the family of Ardvorlich who had an occasional residence and a granary there.

NSA 1845; R S Fittis 1878; D MacNish and W A Tod 1925.

Crannog.

F O Blundell 1923

Neish Island is undoubtedly artificial, although there is now no evidence that it was a crannog. There are no traces of a castle or fortalice on the island; the only features are the footings of two, substantial rectangular buildings of no great age, probably the 'occasional residence and granary of the Ardvorlich family.'

There are no local traditions of a causeway running between the north side of the island and the edge of the loch; traces of this causeway can be seen about 1.0m below the surface.

Surveyed at 1/2500.

Visited by OS (WDJ) 27 November 1968

In 2004, a new initiative was set up to examine crannogs in Perthshire. The county has a wide range of geological conditions and the difference in types of lochs reflects this. Some are shallow with farmland and natural woodlands while others are deeper, often with more barren surroundings. The range is likely to produce crannogs of different forms and possibly different functions. The surviving Pont manuscript maps (1580s-90s) and the Blaeu atlas (1654) show many thousands of settlements, including loch dwellings. The work in the summer of 2004 involved surveying a series of these islands and, where possible, collecting samples for dating evidence. The results produced a range of dates from the Early Iron Age up to the recent past. All the dates quoted are preliminary and so, at present, have no laboratory number.

NN 691 243 Loch Earn, Neish's Isle (NN62SE 2). At the E end of the loch. Local legend has it as the location for a massacre when Smooth John MacNab and 11 of his brothers dragged a boat across the mountains from their home near Loch Tay and killed the occupiers of Neish's Isle for stealing a wagon of food and drink. The island is shown by Pont as having a substantial building. There are still extensive remains of stone buildings and a very well-formed boat noost, or small harbour. The mound is deep and steep-sided with substantial modern debris and timbers around the base, but no obvious timbers or organic deposits from early construction phases.

Sponsors: Perth & Kinross Heritage Trust, Scottish Trust for Underwater Archaeology, Mr Halliwell, Tom Coope, Mr Brian Souter, Drummond Estates, Mr Orrock.

N Dixon and M Shelley 2004

A summary of the work carried out by the Scottish Trust for Underwater Archaeology in 2004 is included in The University of Edinburgh's 50th Annual Report, 2004.

N Dixon 2004

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