NUNS CAVE CARSAIG

The Nuns Cave can be located on the walk to Carsaig Arches, about one hour from Carsaig itself.

In front of the cave is a steep and dangerous path called the Nun's Pass which leads up to the top of the cliff and below the Nun's pass is an unusual Sphinx-like rock on the shore.  The cave is on the Carsaig side in behind a low bank.  It was formed by the action of the sea at the base of the cliff and now opens onto a raised beach.   It is V-shaped and approximately measurers 20metres wide at the entrance, 30m deep and a maximum 5m high and is topped by columnar basalt.

The Cave and surrounding areas contain a great deal of ecclesiastical history.   It is named after the  nuns who are believed to have taken refuge for a short time after being driven out of Iona by reformers who destroyed the treasurers and archives of Scottish Christianity and the buildings of Iona at the time of the Reformation. 

In front of the cave is a flat area of hard and grey stand stone, which is covered at high tide.   The quarry is believed to have been used for the carved, ornamental stonework on Iona Abbey, as well as for grave slabs for chiefs and dignitaries, and doors and window facings for many of the chapels on Mull which would augment the funds of the Church.  Wooden wedges were driven into cracks in the rocks and when covered by the tides would expand and force the slabs apart.

The cave was used as a work-place and shelter.  Work carried on here until shortly before the middle of the 19th century and was then briefly re-opened for restoration work at Iona Abbey in 1875.

On the cave's west wall are carved various holy symbols, mainly crosses, which are close to the ground suggesting the floor has risen considerably over the years.   The carvings are believed to date from the 6th to 9th centuries, although many of the simpler ones may be more recent.  There are two masons' marks on the east wall, probably carved by the stone masons in the 18th or 19th century, a three-pronged symbol, a sailing ship and a number of dates, the earliest being 1633.   You need to look closely as they are amongst modern day graffiti.

For more information see: RCAHMS  Argyll Volume 3  (Her Majesty's Stationery Office Edinburgh 1980) ISBN 0 11 491591 1