Chapel Ronald, Chapelton
Burial Ground (Period Unassigned), Chapel (Period Unassigned), Holy Well (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Chapel Ronald, Chapelton
Classification Burial Ground (Period Unassigned), Chapel (Period Unassigned), Holy Well (Period Unassigned)
Alternative Name(s) St Ronald's Well
Canmore ID 17115
Site Number NJ41NW 1
NGR NJ 4263 1650
NGR Description NJ 4263 1650 and NJ 4243 1653
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/17115
- Council Aberdeenshire
- Parish Kildrummy
- Former Region Grampian
- Former District Gordon
- Former County Aberdeenshire
NJ41NW 1 4263 1650 and 4243 1653.
(Name: NJ 4263 1650) Chapel Ronald (NR) (Remains of)
(NJ 4243 1653) St. Ronald's Well (NR) (Site of).
OS 6" map, Aberdeenshire, 2nd ed., (1902)
Only the foundations of the chapel survived in 1867 (the burial ground had already fallen into disuse) and had disappeared by 1935 when only part of the foundations of the enclosing wall remained. An uninscribed silver ring, presumably from a medieval burial was found at the site before 1840.
The chapel was known variously as St. Ronald's Chapel and Chapel Ronald, Simpson, however, suspects that it should be Chapel Ronan in the absence of any other dedication to St Ronald and the easy corruption (paralleled elsewhere) of Ronan into Ronald.
St Ronald's Well, a spring well, was drained and destroyed before 1866 but a marshy patch still marked the site, according to Simpson.
Name Book 1866; 1867; H Scott (Fasti Eccles Scot) 1915-61; W D Simpson 1935; Information from the 'Aberdeen Journal', 29 April 1840.
There is no trace of Chapel Ronald or of St Ronald's well, although the tradition of both is still known locally.
Visited by OS (R L) 28 August 1968.
Aberdeen Notes and Queries reference cited.
NMRS, MS/712/45.
Nothing is visible of Chapel Ronald in the arable field immediately N of Chapelton farmsteading (NJ41NW 61); the chapel appears to have been situated close to the leading edge of a S-facing terrace. Similarly, nothing is visible in a cultivated field about 190m WNW of the steading of a holy well that may have been associated with the chapel.
Visited by RCAHMS (JRS, ATW), 16 April 1997.