Isle of Mull - History

History of the area...

Ardnacross, in Gaelic means place of the crossing, was ideally sited for occupation by prehistoric people. It is fertile ground, near to the sea, a source of food and access to other coastal communities, its importance is underlined by the number of Bronze Age sites (2600-600BC) in a relatively small area. Details of these sites can be found on the "Stones" page.

A boat crossing between the bay below Ardnacross where the outline of the old boathouse can be seen to Rhemore on Morvern opposite Ardnacross, is believed to have been one of the early crossings between the Isle of Mull and the Morvern area of the Scottish mainland.

The Sound of Mull has for many years been a haven to ships during rough weather. The narrow geography of the sound could also present navigational problems in a bad North-Westerly or South-Easterly gale. The wrecks in the area are testament to the unforgiving nature of the wind and the waves.

Historic Stones...

Ardnacross was ideally sited for occupation by prehistoric people. It is fertile ground, near to the sea, a source of food and access to other coastal communities, its importance is underlined by the number of Bronze Age sites (2600-600BC) in a relatively small area. On a platform above and to the WSW of the Stables there are three kerb cairns and two parallel rows of three standing stones. 

To east of the road 400 yards NNE of the farm is another cairn, in which the kerb consists of large stones up to three feet in height. Two more cairns are to be found above the shore on Rubh' an t-Sean Chaisteil and just south of these cairns is the remains of a broch which would be of an Iron Age date (500BC-500AD). The broch is in a very ruinous state and only the base of the thick walls, and some of the entrance can be identified. Rubh' an t-Sean Chaisteal translates as the 'Point of the old castle 'probably relating to the broch. A seventh burial cairn lies some 500yds to the South of the farm and is less well defined than the others.

Brochs are circular dry stone forts mostly concentrated in the north and west of Scotland (Ardnacross is somewhat south of the main area). They were built roughly 100BC to 100AD and are also characterised having hollow walls with staircases and small cell like chambers.

The north of Mull is remarkable in that there are seven sites with standing stone rows consisting of three to five stones. These stone settings excited the interest of the archeoastronomers, and after excavating the site at Glengorm in 1987-88, Dr Martlew & Prof. Ruggles, excavated and surveyed the Ardnacross site Standing Stone, during the summers of 1989 &1991. In 658 the Edict of Nantes, exhorted Christians to 'dig up and hide pagan stones', and it was found that the stones at the ends of each row had been pulled over and partly buried, maybe as a result of this.

The excavations revealed a date of 1260 to 910 BC which is a late date for stone rows. A small bracelet was recovered from close to one of the stones. It was of a copper alloy but interaction with the soil had leached out the metal, it is of unusual design with geometrical lines and chevrons.

Famous Wrecks...

There are three wrecks within sight of Ardnacross. The nearest is the "Hispania", a Swedish registered 640 ton merchant ship built in Antwerp, Holland in 1912.

On the 17th of December, 1954, the "Hispania" was en-route to Varberg, Sweden from Liverpool with a mixed cargo. In poor weather the vessel navigated north through the Sound only to ground on a reef, the Sgeir Mhor, surviving this grounding but taking on water and with an increasing list eventually sank. 21 crew survived, the captain was last seen going down with his ship.

The "Shuna" was another Swedish vessel seeking shelter in the relative calm of the Sound of Mull during bad weather on a voyage from Glasgow to Gothenburg with a cargo of coal. Late in the evening of 8th May 1913 in driving rain and poor visibility she was momentarily grounded in the southern part of the Sound. The captain opted to try to make port in Tobermory, but the vessel began to take on water, to the point that she was run ashore on the Morvern coast north of Lochaline. The "Shuna" was battered by the raging waters, with some crew despatched to get help the others made shore before the "Shuna" eventually sank.

The "Rondo" was a 2300 ton late World War I construction vessel in the USA and had passed through a few shipping companies post war. On a northerly transit through the Sound in a gale and snowstorm during January 1935 she was forced to shelter in Aros Bay. She was high in the water as her hold was empty on a voyage to pick up cargo in Oslo. The ferocity of the weather in the bay caused the anchor chain to break and now drifting with the crew unable to fight the weather she grounded on Eileanan Glasa. The vessel ran up the rock and was fast but stable. The crew survived for a couple of weeks during attempted salvage, however, this may have made her still lighter and possibly caused her to slide off the rocks into deep water. Thus the Sound claimed another vessel.