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Hunt for missing north-east monastery unearths secret meeting spot

The Book of Deer project dig.
The Book of Deer project dig.

North-east archaeologists hunting for Buchan’s lost monastery have made a remarkable discovery – a secret Christian meeting house.

Experts from Aberdeen and local historians descended on the village of Old Deer last week in an attempt to finally uncover the early mediaeval Monastery of Deer.

And although they leave the site none the wiser as to the location of the abbey, they did unearth something entirely unexpected.

Archaeologist Alison Cameron said her team, along with members of the Book of Deer Project and local volunteers, revealed a T-plan building nearly 25 yards long and eight yards wide.

“In places, the large foundation stones have remained above ground,” she said. “These large stones which were above ground when we arrived at the site may have formed the seating for an Episcopalian meeting house.

“The area would probably have been wooded in the mid-18th-century when Episcopalians were only allowed to meet in small groups, and the location would have been more remote than it is today.”

She said a lot of research is now needed to establish the history of the secretive meeting house, and that her team plan to return to the excavation site to learn more about the structure.

During the project, experts were joined by dozens of children from the surrounding area who helped with the excavation works.

The monastery at the heart of the search is understood to have housed the Book of Deer – a small gospel book and Scotland’s oldest manuscript – before 1100AD.

Besides the Book of Deer itself, no trace of the Pictish monastery has ever been uncovered. The book is now held at Cambridge University.