Scanned image of interior -view from West

Description Scanned image of interior -view from West

Date 23/8/1997

Catalogue Number SC 645563

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of D 21665 CN

Scope and Content Sanctuary screen, World War II Italian Chapel, Lamb Holm, Orkney Islands The construction of the Churchill Barriers across the four eastern channels of Scapa Flow was begun in 1940 and continued for much of the remainder of World War II. As work progressed, they came to be recognised less as military barriers and more as civilian causeways, which is what they eventually became in 1945. Because of other wartime demands, workers for the project were in short supply, and a relaxed interpretation of the Geneva Convention allowed the labour force to be augmented substantially by Italian prisoners-of-war from early 1942 onwards. A chapel at Camp 60 on Lamb Holm remains a picturesque memorial to the Italian contribution and to its principal creator, Domenico Chiocchetti. It was one of two chapels built in Orkney by Italian prisoners-of-war, another one having once stood at Camp 34 on Burray. As seen in this view of the east end of the Italian Chapel, the 'vaulted' interior reflects, but completely disguises, the steel-ribbed structure of the two Nissen huts of which it is built. The ceilings and walls are of painted plaster board, decorated with frescoes in the chancel behind the wrought-iron rood screen. The screen itself was the loving work of a smith called Palumbo, created, like so much else in the chapel, from spare materials. At the heart of the Orkney archipelago, Scapa Flow was the main fleet anchorage for the Royal Navy during both World Wars. Its vital importance led to the creation of one of the most concentrated defence networks in Britain. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/645563

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap