Archaeology Notes
Event ID 823647
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Archaeology Notes
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/823647
NF73NE 1.00 centred 758 364
(NF 7580 3646) Teampull Mor (NR) (Ruin)
(NF 7584 3649) Caibeal Nan Sagairt (NR) (Ruins)
(NF 7583 3647) Caibeal Dhiarmaid (NR) (Ruin).
OS 6" map, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1904)
NF73NE 1.01 NF 7580 3646 Church
NF73NE 1.02 NF 7584 3649 Chapel
NF73NE 1.03 NF 7583 3647 Church
NF73NE 1.04 NF 7580 3644 Chapel
NF73NE 1.05 NF 758 364 Chapel
NF73NE 1.06 NF 7583 3647 Carved Stone
Thomas measured the ruins as follows:-
Teampull Mhaire - 59ft by 20ft
Teampull MacDhiarmid - 66ft by 26ft.
Chapel an t'sagairt - 16 1/4ft by 12 3/4ft.
Caibeal Chlann MhicDhugail - 17ft by 11 1/2ft.
Chapel Mhic Alain - 20ft long by 14 1/2ft at the west end and 12 3/4ft at the east end.
F W L Thomas 1890.
The MacDonalds note that " it is singular that hardly a hint of tradition survives these pre-Reformation buildings. They probably belong to the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries....."
A Macdonald and A Macdonald 1896.
Group of two churches and three chapels at Howmore, South Uist. One chapel, observed in 1855, was removed before 1866. The churches were dedicated to St. Mary and to St. Columba.
The largest building (OS. Teampull Mor) is 66ft by 26 3/4ft over side walls 2ft 8ins and gables 2ft 10ins thick.
The other church (OS. Caibeal Dhiarmaid) has only the east gable remaining. It has been 18 3/4ft wide, the side walls were 2ft and the gable is 3 1/2ft thick.
The larger chapel, to the south of Teampull Mor is 17ft 2ins by 11ft 8ins over walls 2ft 8ins thick.
The remaining chapel (OS. Caibeal nan Sagairt) is 14ft 11ins by 8ft within walls 2 1/2ft thick. The gables are complete but the side walls are ruinous.
T S Muir 1885; RCAHMS 1928; M Martin 1934.
The E gable of Teampull Mor stands to roof height; the remaining walls are reduced almost to ground level.
Caibeal Dhiarmaid is generally as described by RCAHMS (1928), M Martin (1934) and T S Muir (1885). The outline of the remaining walls are discernible as grass-covered banks, 0.3m high, making the church 17.0m x 5.0m.
Caibeal nan Sagairt, measuring 5.7m x 4.4m is as described by RCAHMS (1928), M Martin (1934) and T S Muir (1885).
The chapel 18.0m S of Teampull Mor, at NF 7580 3644, measures 5.1m x 3.6m, and survives to roof height.
There is no trace or local knowledge of the fifth chapel "removed before 1866".
Revised at 1/2500
Visited by OS (N K B), 14 May 1965.
NF 758 364 A desk-based survey and non-invasive site assessment was made, in association with Simpson & Brown Architects, of the complex of ruined churches and burial enclosures (NF73NE 1 and NF73NE 35 ).
Sponsor: Southern Isles Amenity Trust
T Addyman 2000.
NF 7581 3647 A 4-week programme of structural, topographical and geophysical survey was undertaken at the medieval ecclesiastical site at Howmore (NF73NE 1) in July of 2003 and 2004. The remains comprise four medieval buildings surviving to varying degrees and two post-medieval burial enclosures, sited on an eminence and now largely enclosed by a wall of 19th-century origin. Whether the eminence upon which the churches are located is of natural or artificial origin remains to be established, although a detailed survey of the earthworks revealed evidence for relatively recent cuttings made into its eastern side and through the middle of the site.
The two principal medieval buildings are the axially aligned churches of Teampull Mhoire and Teampull Caluim Chille. Both are represented only by their eastern ends, although the remaining outlines are traceable as a combination of earthworks and partially exposed foundations. To the S of Teampull Mhoire, a further chapel of smaller proportions, known as Caibeul Dhubhgaill, survives to a greater extent, although the walls are much eroded having lost much of their outer facing on the N and S sides. To the NE of Teampull Caluim Chille lies the Clan Ranald burial chapel, or Caibeul Clann 'ic Ailean, generally believed to have been created in the mid-16th century. The two post-medieval burial enclosures lie immediately to the N and W of the Clan Ranald chapel. Teampull Mhoire, the westernmost of the two principal churches, is usually thought to be the earliest of the entire group, on the basis of a two-light opening of 13th-century character surviving in the eastern wall. A loose fragment of moulded stone with dog-tooth ornament, found lying in the Clan Ranald chapel, is presumed to have been displaced from Teampull Mhoire.
Structural recording set out to explore in detail the structural sequence at Howmore, and to investigate the locale by topographical and geophysical survey for the remains of a further chapel, recorded by T S Muir in the 19th century but now lost, and for any other features of potential significance. A full photographic survey of the structures and associated monuments was also completed. Recording of the surviving E end elevation of Teampull Caluim Chille revealed two phases of building, whereby the primary building had been widened on the N side. Earthwork survey suggests that the structure was divided internally into three compartments. These divisions relate to the widened
church and are thus secondary features. Caibeul Dhubhgaill is evidently of a single phase and represents a single-celled building of the same width as the primary phase Teampull Caluim Chille.
Recording of the Clan Ranald chapel revealed a complex sequence of four principal phases. The earliest comprises the eastern part of the chapel, which is again comparable in form and dimension both to the first phase of Teampull Caluim Chille and Caibeul Dhubhgaill. The second phase involved widening of the structure on the northern side, similar to the second phase of Teampull Caluim Chille. A chancel arch was then inserted and is dated to the 13th century by the discovery of an in situ moulded stone with dog-tooth ornament, identical to the loose fragment within the chapel. It can therefore be demonstrated that the Clan Ranald chapel has two structural phases prior to the 13th century, and that the character of the earliest of these phases is also exhibited in Teampull Caluim Chille and in Caibeul Dhubhgaill.
Teampull Mhoire appears to have been erected in one phase, although the surviving elevation has been modified subsequent to the removal of stones from the lancet windows. Geophysical survey revealed that the mound is likely to have been natural and that this church, like the last phase of Teampull Caluim Chille, was split into three internal divisions. It seems likely that this was the last medieval church built upon the site.
The northern post-medieval burial chapel was built outwith the rest of the complex and only later incorporated into the enclosure wall. That to the W may be a reconstruction of an earlier structure, recorded by Muir. The present fabric is consistent with the enclosure wall, constructed around 1855.
The existence of a cross-incised slab of likely early medieval date at Howmore is also suggestive of origins earlier than the 13th century for religious activity at the site, and future work is planned to investigate the dating of the medieval structures by scientific means.
Sponsors: Hunter Archaeological Trust, University of Glasgow, Institute of Archaeology, UCL.
A Reynolds, M Hamilton and J A Raven 2004.
