Archaeology Notes

Event ID 645919

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/645919

HY62NE 5 6536 2717.

(HY 6536 2717) Chapel (NR) (Site of) (NAT)

(HY 6537 2717) Well of Kildinguie (NAT)

OS 6" map, Orkney, 2nd ed., (1900).

Nearly all trace of the chapel has disappeared but small hillocks and ridges appear to indicate part of the line of the foundation.

During the RCAHMS inspection in 1928 a small fragment of crude pottery was picked out of the sandy bank high up at the south corner and there were other signs of early occupation, the surrounding stones and sand being blackened by fire and mixed with charcoal. A slab set on edge could be seen projecting from the bank hard by. It is possible therefore that the chapel was built on a prehistoric site.

Adjoining the site is the 'Well of Kildinguie' traditionally said to have been of such high repute as a healing well during the Norse period as to attract people from as far as Norway and Denmark to drink its mineral waters.

It was spoiled several years before 1879 by quarrying nearby, but in that year could still be seen issuing from a rock, and though about 6' below HWM it was still quite drinkable after the tide receded.

Statistical Account (OSA) 1795; Name Book 1879; J R Tudor 1883; G Petrie notebook No.7, 58 in the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS); RCAHMS 1946, visited 1928;

A turf-covered ridge, c. 6.0m long, c. 0.2m high, oriented WNW to ESE, may mark the foundation of one of the walls of the chapel otherwise there is no trace in a disturbed area of ground. "The slab projecting from the bank hard by" was not seen nor any other signs of early occupation, the shore line here being completely turf covered.

No trace remains of the "Well of Kildinguie". (Kildinguie - 'well' (Norse) ?). The name is still known locally and the site is marked by numerous graffiti on the rock.

Visited by OS (RL) 13 July 1970.

A grass grown ridge alongside the shore marks the site of a chapel, traditionally associated with the holy well; the name, the second element of which is enigmatic, may contain the dedication. Structural and occupation traces were reported in 1883 and 1928, but nothing is now visible.

Below the chapel, the Well of Kildinguie, the chalybeate waters of which were widely renowned for their curative properties, issued among the rocks of the foreshore. It was spoiled by quarrying some years before 1879, but the exact spot is strongly remembered, and a 1m square rock-face is favoured for the carving of graffiti of an amatory nature.

RCAHMS 1984, visited June 1979.