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Paper Cave

Loch Eck, Benmore, Coir an t-Sith, Argyllshire.

A deep rent or fissure in a high precipice situated about a quarter of a mile south of Coirantee. The are numerous deep holes near, which might well be available for purposes of concealment. [Scotland's Places]

The western hillside of the loch hosts the famous 'Paper Caves' hidden in a deep cleft of the rocks. This was where the 9th Earl of Argyll hid the deeds and charters for the Campbell clan's land in a time of threat, and ultimately saved Inveraray Castle and their estate as a result. [Castle Lachlan]

A pathway runs along the west side of the loch, and gives access to the Paper Caves, set in the steep hillside with caving access to a platform set above a steep scarp within the cave. [Canmore]

Alternative Names: Campbell's Paper Caves

Notes: Geology: the caves are roughly midway between two dykes (basalt & microgabbro) of the Mull dyke swarm. These run roughly parallel to Loch Eck.

Important documents were at first kept by the Earls of Argyll at either Inveraray or at Carrick Castle on Loch Goil, but the troubled years during the 17th century gave reason to remove them to less obvious hiding places. Charters and Titles were of great importance as in Scots law ownership of land could not be transferred without possession of deeds, and it was vital that the Campbell's held proof of their rights at a time when their assets were being confiscated. All the hiding places lay in Cowal, within a few miles of Kilmun, the burial place of the Clan Chiefs from 1442 until 1949. The precious documents were saved by concealment in what is still known as the Paper Cave, hidden 560ft above Loch Eck on the side of Clach Bheinn. The place is exciting to visit but difficult to reach and should only be attempted by the very fit and adventurous. [Friends of the Argyll Papers]

In this forest a cave is shown where some of the charters and papers of the Marquis of Argyle lay concealed while he was under the ban of his persecutors of the day and the cave has since been designated and known by the title of the Paper cave An inhabitant of the parish within the last twenty years had in his possession some staves of one of the casks in which these papers were held in the cave. [NSA]

Nearby Archaeology

At an elevation of c100m on the track leading up to the well-known Paper Caves on the W side of Loch Eck is a broad flat sub-circular recessed platform 9m in diameter [NS 13640 89416]. The rear scarp is approximately 2m high; below the front is natural rock. In front of the platform, the ground slopes downhill at 45°. There is a widespread scatter of small pieces of charcoal across the platform, but no hearth or other evidence of a recent fire.

David Dorren and Nina Henry, 2008 [Canmore]