Archaeology Notes

Event ID 717090

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/717090

HY50SW 14 51042 00638

(HY 5104 0064) Church (NR)

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

St. Nicholas Church, the parish church was served by a reader in 1570 (H Scott 1928): It was rebuilt in 1781 (Statistical Account [OSA, J Alison] 1793) and again in 1818 (New Statistical Account [NSA, A Smith] 1845).

(Undated) information in NMRS.

The church and graveyard stand on a rounded elevation which resembles the site of a broch,and a ring or wall of a circular stonework protruding through the summit in the field to the N. of the graveyard suggest a prehistoric construction. Other stone walling is found during grave- digging. Many years ago a rectangular cross-slab bearing Celtic ornament was found in the floor and together with a small sepulchral slab bearing a very rare sculpture of three swords, found in the churchyard, is now in the private chapel at Graemeshall.(Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1901 Donations).

J R Allen and J Anderson 1903; RCAHMS 1946, visited 5 July 1935.

There is no evidence of a broch. The ring of stones, recorded above is at HY 5101 0065.

The corner of a dry stone building (with walling 1.0m thick) was found during grave digging by Mr Louttit of Woodstock, Holm, Orkney at HY 5105 0064 near the east end of the church. More dry stone walling, 0.8m thick was found in the same way at HY 5101 0064, with many animal bones , and some barrel shaped red clay beads, since lost.

A third dry-stone wall was found about 5 years ago by Mr A Tait of Nether Bow, Holm at HY 5101 0066. In this area he removed about 40 trailer loads of stones, including a red sand- stone block bearing about 6 cup marks, and many sea shells. These he dumped on the shore at HY 5088 0075, but there is now no trace of the cup-marked stone. The

church was taken over by the Army in 1939 and has not been used as a church since then.

Surveyed at 1/2500.

Visited by OS (NKB) 28 August 1964.

Church visible on air photograph (OS 63/45/140, flown 1963).

(Undated) information in NMRS.

In 1893 'The Orkney Herald' reported that a cross found here was to be mounted.

The Orkney Herald 189

Mr Martin Howe has visited the are and sent the follwoing report:

The area has been deeply ploughed recently and archaeological remains are scattered across an area of the order

of thirty metres across. Amongst the structural remains are stones about a 1m acoss and one about a cubic foot, which gives some measure of the disturbance.

There are also other materials - burnt and unburnt pottery sherds with fragments (some of the red point may be unburnt), stone tools and iron slag. One piece of stone examined seemed too crooked in appearance, but it fell very

naturally into the hand and even had a curve that perfectly fitted the fleshy mount at the base of my thumb. Towards the base of the hill were many smaller fragments such as you might expect from a burnt mound, but even

there I found two pieces of curved heavy red stone with bright inclusions that were roughly three and four inches across and looked like fragments of some larger original. The site really needs a professional eye run over it, before matters deteriorate much further, in order to reach a properly informed assessment.

It is possible that some of the unearthed material relates to the mediaeval chapel at St.Nicholas Church in Holm, and a -mohr placename in the area indicates the dedication may come from even earlier, though not having

seen it I would hesitate to assign the now destroyed ring of stones outwith the kirkyard wall to a lleyn precinct.

Of course now that the site has been this heavily ploughed it is expected that the farmer may shortly remove all of the larger stones, along with anything dense enough to trouble the plough in future (such as slag). The pottery fragments that I could see were on the order of a centimetre thick, the unburnt pot I recognised from my time at The Howe in Stromness - it is slightly coarse, and mid earth brown with a dark-brown/black outer

surface.

Right at the top of the hillock, exposed on the topsoil by the border a bone. Some kind of joint (elbow or animal equivalent), bumps where the tendons would go

Information to RCAHMS via e-mail from M Howe, 21 April 2006

The farmer has ploughed the field for a second time and this has produced a second area of potshreds, different to that found previously.

The sherds come from two areas (in the region of HY 5098 0065). They have very thick bases, with walls about 1/2cm thick. The composition would appear to be of very fine clay.

Information to RCAHMS via e-mail from M Howe, 29 April 2006