Archaeology Notes

Event ID 655208

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/655208

ND362SW 2 349 615.

(ND 3488 6151) Site of (NAT) Chapel (NR)

OS 6" map, Caithness, 1st ed., (1873)

Until it was excavated by Sir Francis Tress Barry in 1901, the site of the 'Road Broch' (ND36SW 1) was said to be that of an early church, hence the name 'Kirk Tofts'.

Anderson (1901) says that the church is supposed to have stood either in the present graveyard or on the cultivated ground to the S of it. He suggests that the oblong rectangular foundation between the burial ground, the broch and the road might be the remains of the church although it shows no distinctively ecclesiastical feature.

Name Book 1872; J Anderson 1901.

There is no trace and no local knowledge of a church in the area centred at ND 349 615 indicated above. This area incorporates a war memorial with surrounding lawn, an extension to the old graveyard, and a small refuse tip from the cemetery.

Visited by OS (N K B) 6 September 1965.

No trace of the chapel in 1981.

C E Batey 1982.

No change to the previous field report.

Visited by OS (J M) 30 April 1982.