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Skye, Merkadale
Burial Ground (Medieval), Church (Medieval)
Site Name Skye, Merkadale
Classification Burial Ground (Medieval), Church (Medieval)
Alternative Name(s) Loch Harport
Canmore ID 11070
Site Number NG33SE 2
NGR NG 3954 3127
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/11070
- Council Highland
- Parish Bracadale
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Skye And Lochalsh
- Former County Inverness-shire
NG33SE 2 3953 3176.
(NG 3953 3126) Grave Yard (NAT)
OS 6"map, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1903)
In a small churchyard on the S shore of the inner end of Loch Harport, at Merkadale, are the ruins of a church orientated nearly ENE - WSW. The walls, built of stone and shell lime, are reduced to an average height of from 2-3ft and measure 2ft 3ins in thickness at the sides and 2ft 7ins at the gables. The building is oblong, measuring internally 24ft 9ins in length and 11ft 8ins in breadth. The door, of which only the right jamb can be traced, is near the W end of the S wall. The windows have entirely disappeared (RCAHMS 1928).
The Name Book (1877) states that "an old chapel at one time stood in or near this graveyard but no reliable information could be obtained."
Name Book 1876; RCAHMS 1928
The remains of a church as descrbed by RCAHMS
Visited by OS (C F W) 4 June 1961.
Field Visit (17 May 1915)
Church, Merkadale, Loch Harport.
In a small churchyard on the southern shore of the inner end of Loch Harport, at Merkadale, are the ruins of a church orientated nearly east north-east and west-south-west. The walls built of stone and shell lime, are reduced to an average height of from 2 to 3 feet, and measure 2 feet 3 inches in thickness at the sides and 2 feet 7 inches at the gables. The building is oblong, measuring internally 24 feet 9 inches in length and 11 feet 8 inches in breadth. The door, of which only the right jamb can be traced, is near the western end of the south wall. The windows have entirely disappeared.
RCAHMS 1928, visited 17 May 1915.
OS map: Skye xxxiv (unnoted).
Measured Survey (May 2007)
NG 3953 3176 A survey of the chapel site at Merkadale at Trien near the head of Loch Harport was carried out in May 2007. A 1:200 scale plan was drawn of the chapel. The chapel is a small rectangular structure orientated E/W with surviving walls up to 0.50m high. It measures 7.5 x 3.6m internally and the walls are c0.90m thick. The walls consist of large rectangular blocks of stone, with well defined faces and square corners. The doorway appears to have been in the W end of the S wall. Inside the chapel there is one piece of stone which appears to be a door jamb.
Funder: The Hunter Archaeological Trust and the University of Glasgow's Faculty of Arts Graduate School Research Support Fund.
