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Arbroath, St Mary's Chapel
Burial Ground (Medieval), Chapel (Medieval)
Site Name Arbroath, St Mary's Chapel
Classification Burial Ground (Medieval), Chapel (Medieval)
Alternative Name(s) Arbroath Harbour, Chapel Of The Blessed Virgin Mary
Canmore ID 35553
Site Number NO64SW 24
NGR NO 6423 4066
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/35553
- Council Angus
- Parish Arbroath And St Vigeans
- Former Region Tayside
- Former District Angus
- Former County Angus
NO64SW 24 6423 4066.
The pre-Reformation chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary stood on a site where the NE corner of Arbroath harbour now is. It was founded some time before 1455, and served as a chapel-of-ease to the parish church of St Vigeans. There is little or no available information concerning the appearance and plan of the building. At the Reformation, it contained three altars, and although stripped of these and images, it continued in use as a place of reformed worship until c1590, by which time a new parish church was erected (NO64SW 21). Some remains were evidently still standing at the beginning of the 18th century, and were probably not removed until c1725 when the harbour was improved. This harbour was converted into a wet dock in 1877, and in the course of this work, the foundations of the chapel, some mouldings, and part of the adjoining graveyard were briefly revealed only to be destroyed in the construction work.
G Hay 1876; J Adam 1886; P C Carragher 1909; SBS Arbroath 1982.
Publication Account (1982)
The Lady Chapel stood at the corner of the wet dock near the modern Shore Dues office and disappeared in 1725 during construction of the new harbour (Morton, n.d.,93). Foundations of the structure were reputedly discovered in 1877 along with some window mouldings (Morton, n.d.,93).
Information from ‘Historic Arbroath: The Archaeological Implications of Development’, (1982).
