The Druid Temple by Eva Richardson McCrea

A chartered accountant, insurance broker and amateur archeologist, Ludovic McMellan Mann oversaw the excavation of a Bronze Age burial site between 1937 - 1938 on the outskirts of Glasgow, Scotland. He interpreted the site as a Druid Temple built to commemorate a solar eclipse- a view that was mocked and shunned at the time by the archeological establishment. Mann wrote a series of texts which outlined his interpretations of the site. Unfortunately, as with many of his observations, there was no corroborating evidence to back up his theories and the Office of Works refused to designate the site as a scheduled monument. Mann was ultimately estranged within archeological circles and sources write that towards the later years of his life he was ‘disappointed, lonely and ill.’

In The Druid Temple a petrol station sits on the site of Mann’s discovery. A camera charts the demolition of parts of the site and its subsequent refurbishment as it changes from a Jet to BP Petrol station. Overlaid on these footage, an unidentified male Scottish voice narrates details of the original dig, the interpretation of site as a monument to the eclipse and details relating to the surrounding area. His tone moves from factual authoritative registers of speech to speculative musings on the site as fact, fiction, interpretation and speculation intertwine.