Archaeology Notes

Event ID 672905

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/672905

NM04NW 1 04232 47374.

(NM 0421 4735) Chapel (NR) (remains of)

OS 1:10,000 map, (1976)

Not to be confused with Kirkapol, old parish church (NM 0423 4726), for which see NM04NW 2.

Chapel, Kirkapoll: This chapel or oratory has no recorded history, and its dedication is unknown. Now roofless, its walls are for the most part entire. Standing upon the uneven surface of natural rock, it is a small single- chambered building of simple oblong plan. It measures 7.1m in length from E to W by 3.4m transversely within walls 0.8 m in average thickness. The gables and the N side-wall still stand to their original heights of 5.5m and 2.7m respectively above the general level of the interior. The N wall is founded partly on a rough plinth and traces of harling may be seen on the external walls. The wasted remains of the entrance-doorway occupy a position towards the W end of the S side-wall. The chapel was lit by two small single-light windows placed opposite to one another towards the E end of the building. Internally, the wall surfaces still retain traces of plaster, and there is a square socket of uncertain purpose in the inner face of the E gable-wall. Limited clearance of the natural rock floor of the chapel failed to reveal the cup-shaped depressions recorded in 1921 (L M Mann 1922).

This chapel and the church recorded on NM04NW 2 are of similar architectural character, and are probably closely contemporary. It is difficult to ascribe a precise date to the surviving remains; the buildings can more probably be ascribed to the later Middle Ages, possibly the latter half of the 14th century.

A flint flake, found within this chapel, was donated to the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS) by the RCAHMS in 1973-4.

RCAHMS 1980, visited 1973; L M Mann 1922; Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1975.

When visited in 1972, the remains of this chapel were in a similar condition to that described above; no 'cup-marks' were seen.

Visited by OS (R D) 23 June 1972.