Skye, Bile Chapel, Torvaig
Burial Ground (Medieval), Chapel (Medieval)
Site Name Skye, Bile Chapel, Torvaig
Classification Burial Ground (Medieval), Chapel (Medieval)
Canmore ID 11289
Site Number NG44SE 1
NGR NG 4972 4430
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/11289
- Council Highland
- Parish Portree
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Skye And Lochalsh
- Former County Inverness-shire
NG44SE 1 4972 4430.
NG 4972 4430. Bile Chapel (NR) (In ruins)
OS 6"map, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1904)
Bile Chapel ... the remains of a small church surrounded by a burial ground, occasionally used until recently. The building, of stone and shell lime and oblong on plan, runs ENE-WSW, measures internally 26ft 9ins long and is 13ft 6ins broad. The walling is 2ft 9ins thick rising to a height of 4-5ft at the ends and from 2-3ft on the sides. The door seems to have been near the W end of the SE wall.
RCAHMS 1928.
Bile Chapel exists as described, moss and nettle-covered and completely neglected. The unfenced graveyard is in a similar condition and unused.
Visited by OS (C F W) 21 April 1961.
Field Visit (18 May 1914)
Bile Chapel, near Portree.
About ¾ mile north-east of the mouth of Portree harbour, on a grassy slope hemmed in by high cliffs some 200 yards from the shore, are the remains of a small church surrounded by a burying ground occasionally used up till recent times. The building, which is of stone and shell lime and oblong on plan, runs east-north-east and west-south-west, and measures internally 26 feet 9 inches long and 13 feet 6 inches broad, the wall being 2 feet 9 inches thick and rising to a height of from 4 to 5 feet at the ends and from2 to 3 feet on the sides. The door seems to have been near the west end of the south-eastern wall.
RCAHMS 1928, visited 18 May 1914.
OS map: Skye xxiv.
Measured Survey (May 2007)
NG 4972 4430 A survey of the site of Bile chapel at Torvaig N of Portree was carried out in May 2007. A 1:200 scale plan was drawn of the chapel. The chapel is a small rectangular structure oriented ENE/WSW. It measures 8.2m x 4m internally and the walls are c0.90m thick. The doorway may have been in the W end of the S wall. The interior of the chapel is filled with loose stone which may be tumble from the walls.
Funder: The Hunter Archaeological Trust and the University of Glasgow’s Faculty of Arts Graduate School Research Support Fund.
