Site type CHAPEL (POSSIBLE), REDOUBT (POSSIBLE)
Canmore ID 49517
Site Number NT08SE 7
NGR NT 0548 8012
Council FALKIRK
Parish BO'NESS AND CARRIDEN
Former Region CENTRAL
Former District FALKIRK
Former County WEST LOTHIAN

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Archaeological Notes

NT08SE 7 0548 8012.

(NT 0548 8012) St Ninian's Chapel (NR) (Remains of) (Not on 1st edn 6"map, 1856)
OS 25"map, (1954)

Redoubt (site of): The summit of the hillock immediately S of Blackness Castle bears traces of an extensive work noted on a plan of 1725 (Plan held in Kings library, British Museum) as "the remains of a redoubt built by ye English when they were masters of Scottland". The masonry where visible appears to be 16th - 17th century work.
RCAHMS 1929, visited 1926.

The building foundation on Castle Hill, oriented WNW-ESE, measures 20.0m x 7.3m over rubble walls 0.8m thick and between 0.3m and 0.9m high. A wing 5.0m wide projects 4.3m to the SE. This would not appear to be the remains of a chapel. It has been preserved by the DoE.
Visited by OS (J L D) 19 January 1953.

The structure whose foundations can still be seen on Castle Hill, immediately S of Blackness Castle, has the appearance of a chapel and is presumably the St Ninian's Chapel referred to in a charter of 1466 (Reg Magni Sig Reg Scot 1984). It does not appear to bear any resemblance to a redoubt.
Information contained in letter from K A Steer, RCAHMS to OS 11 June 1958.

A Celtic cult figurine (NT08SE 12) may have come from this site (but also see NT08SE 10).
A Ross 1967.

The foundations are as described by previous OS field surveyor.
Footings of other walls exist adjacent to the site on the N but form no intelligible plan. These foundations are not shown on an estate plan of 1837 although the dovecot is (Estate plan 1837, R H P 1706, West Register House) The whole area is Crown property.
Visited by OS (B S) 14 March 1974.

The site is located on Castle Hill immediately south of the main Blackness Castle buildings. There are foundations of a rectangular structure here which has in the past been identified as a possible chapel or as a redoubt. The site is a Crown Property. There are no changes to NMRS description of 1974. The foundations are still visible.
Site recorded by GUARD during the Coastal Assessment Survey for Historic Scotland, 'The Firth of Forth from Dunbar to the Coast of Fife' 24th February 1996..

RCAHMS (1929) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions of Scotland. Tenth report with inventory of monuments and constructions in the counties of Midlothian and West Lothian, Edinburgh
Page(s): 195, No. 303 Held at RCAHMS A.1.1.INV/10

RCAHMS (1978b) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. The archaeological sites and monuments of Clackmannan District and Falkirk District, Central Region, The archaeological sites and monuments of Scotland series no 1 Edinburgh
Page(s): 33, No. 105 Held at RCAHMS A.1.2.ARC(1)

Reg Magni Sig Reg Scot (1984b) Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum. The Register of the Great Seal of Scotland, 1424-1513. Volume 2, in Paul, J B Edinburgh, London, Melbourne
Page(s): No. 857