Could this be the site of a medieval monastery?

A COMMUNITY project to identify the visible and accessible archaeological features of Ceannabeinne township, near Durness, and provide information about the biggest well preserved pre-clearance farm town in Sutherland has got under way.

Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Scottish Natural Heritage and Highland Year of Culture, Glasgow University’s archaeology research division this week are carrying out a programme of surveys and trial trenching at the township to gather information on the medieval and post-medieval occupation of the area.

The survey will involve trial trenching of what is thought to be a monastic or hermitage site on the rock stack at Traigh na h’Uamhag, at the coastal edge of Ceannabeinne. To date few if any such sites have been examined archaeologically along the northern coast of mainland Scotland, and the results will provide important information on the medieval ecclesiastical occupation of the region. If it does prove to be a monastic site, it would be an exciting discovery for the northern Highlands in general and for Durness in particular.

Further archaeological work scheduled for July will provide insights into the nature of life in the township up to its clearance in 1842. It may also help establish how long the township had been occupied and whether that occupation extended back into the late medieval period.

(The Northern Times - 4 May 2007)