Archaeology Notes

Event ID 640910

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/640910

HU15NE 14 1771 5974.

(HU 1764 5976) Chapel (NR) (Site of)

OS 6" map, Shetland, 2nd ed., (1903)

'A green spot said to be the site of a Romish chapel belonging to about the twelfth century.'

Name Book 1878

There are now no traces of a chapel or any associated burial ground.

Visited by OS (WDJ) 19 June 1968.

A programme of test pitting, geophysical survey, excavation and survey on Papa Stour was undertaken in July 2004, in pursuit of enhanced soils and their relationship to the location of early chapel sites established by the papar.

HU 1766 5975 The Sneeans. The supposed chapel site was investigated by geophysical survey and excavation. Loose boulders found in accumulated sand were reminiscent of a collapsed sheep shelter or pen, but no other structural, stratigraphical or artefactual evidence (except a fragmentary whalebone rib) was located.

A programme of augering confirmed that deep agricultural soils were located closer to the present kirk. Geophysical survey in the area indicated high levels of activity. A test pit confirmed the depth of the soils and provided samples for further analysis.

B Ballin Smith, B E Crawford, G Petersen and J Thomas 2004