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Archaeology Notes
Event ID 655371
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Archaeology Notes
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/655371
ND37SW 4.00 34349 72853
ND37SW 4.01 Centred ND 34360 72859 Churchyard
ND37SW 4.02 3436 7285 Memorial
(ND 3434 7285) The church of Canisbay, mentioned between 1223 and 1245, is built on the mound covering the ruins of a broch. There are indications that the present church dates from the 15th century, but the fact that it was dedicated to St Drostan and that a rock immediately off- shore retains the name Papel (ND 3420 7308) might suggest a pre-Norse, Celtic origin.
Finds from the graveyard include red deer antler and hammerstones presented to the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS) by Rev James MacPherson in 1871.
The church is oblong with probably 17th century N and S transepts and pre-Reformation tower in the centre of the W front. It is a plain, harled structure which underwent alterations in the 18th and 19th centuries. The openings in the side walls are square lintelled and those in the gables pointed. The monuments date back to the 16th century and include those of the Groat family.
Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1873; RCAHMS 1911, visited 1910; G Hay 1957; Orig Paroch Scot 1855.
No change; church and graveyard are in regular use.
Visited by OS (N K B) 11 August 1982.
