Documents

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The legal document available for download below constitutes the formal designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The additional details provided on this page are provided for information purposes only and do not form part of the designation. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within this additional information.

• Type

  Legal Documents

  Title

  SM2589_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600008780)

Summary

Description

The monument comprises a Chi-Rho cross incised on to the rock face of a rocky outcrop, which dates to the second half of the 6th century and a Napoleonic Wars battery at Churchton Bay, Raasay, which is early 19th-century in date and is visible as upstanding remains. The monument is located 310m SW of Raasay House on a promontory at about 10m OD; a natural harbour lies to its immediate NE.

The cross is located on the steeply-sloping SE face of the outcrop, c. 1.4m above ground level. It is probably connected with St Moluag's mission to Raasay, a similar cross was found nearby and the ruins of St Maol-Luag's Chapel lie 420m to the NE. The shaft is 0.57m in length and the head, formed of four intersecting curves within a square, is 0.2 m square.

The C-shaped battery was built by the 11th chief of the Raasay MacLeods, James MacLeod, who was responsible for major work at his seat between 1790 and 1805. He was also Lieutenant-Colonel of the First Isle of Skye Regiment of Volunteers 1803-07. The battery consists of a low wall c. 1m in height with curved termini surmounted by coping stones of a depressed triangular profile and four embrasures. One of the carronades survives in situ on a fixed bed and the remains of an outwork are situated on the central plateau behind the flag staff to the rear of the site.

A number of landed families took anti-invasion measures during the Napoleonic Wars. Similar batteries, though in a poorer state of preservation, survive at Islay House and Culzean Castle; the former may have originally been built in response to the threat of John Paul Jones and US privateers around 1766 while the latter dates to 1812.

Given its prominent position on the main sightline from Raasay House westwards to Skye, once the perceived threat of French attack had dissipated, the battery was converted into an ornamental landscape feature. A single course of stonework projects in an L-plan to the N of the battery wall. It is surmounted by cast-iron railings and has a gate in the middle of its N arm. The E edge of the outcrop is fenced. Two sculpted reclining mermaids, intended for the Raasay House portico, were positioned outside the extremities of the battery wall.

The monument is proposed for rescheduling to include the battery. The area proposed for scheduling comprises the remains described including an area around them within which related archaeological material may be found. It is irregular on plan with maximum dimensions of 33m N-S and 21m E-W and is outlined in red on the accompanying map extract.

Statement of National Importance

The monument is of national importance both as an example of Early Christian symbolism in the western seaboard and as a well-preserved example of anti-invasion measures associated with the Napoleonic Wars. The preservation of the incised cross will allow for comparative study of Chi-Rho crosses of this type and will enhance our understanding of the period for which other types of evidence is scarce. The battery and the survival of its associated archaeology have the potential not only to contribute to our understanding of defensive monuments of the period but also the social structure of the time. It is nationally important as a rare and relatively unaltered monument of this type.

References

Bibliography

About Scheduled Monuments

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Scheduling is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for monuments and archaeological sites of national importance as set out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.

We schedule sites and monuments that are found to be of national importance using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Scheduled monument records provide an indication of the national importance of the scheduled monument which has been identified by the description and map. The description and map (see ‘legal documents’ above) showing the scheduled area is the designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The statement of national importance and additional information provided are supplementary and provided for general information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within the statement of national importance or additional information. These records are not definitive historical or archaeological accounts or a complete description of the monument(s).

The format of scheduled monument records has changed over time. Earlier records will usually be brief. Some information will not have been recorded and the map will not be to current standards. Even if what is described and what is mapped has changed, the monument is still scheduled.

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