Stenness Church And War Memorial

HY31SW 19 31080 12458

The present parish church of Stenness has been twice rebuilt but, in 1760 (R Pococke 1760) and 1774 (G Low 1879 ed.), its predecessor had a semicircular tower or 'steeple' attached to the west end. Excavations in 1928 (J S Clouston 1929 and J Fraser 1926) exposed the foundations of this tower which were rectangular up to a height of 9 ins and measured 15 ft 6 ins N-S by 11 ft 3 ins E-W. The N. and S. walls, 5 ft thick anjd 5 ft 6 ins apart, were partly cleared, and the W. wall, 4 ft 3 ins thick, was estimated to be about 7 ft from the gable of the church. The found- ations of the original nave, which had a total length of 22 ft 8 ins and breadth of 15 ft 8 ins, were located in breaking ground for the modern building.

To the SW of the church lies a late 16th century recumbent slab, 5 ft 11 1/2 ins by 2 ft 5 ins, with an earlier slab, of similar dimensions, immediately south of it, and there are two panels, one dated 1655, removed from the old church when it was restored, in the possession of the Misses Anderson of Stymilders.

RCAHMS 1946, visited 1930.

All that possibly remains of the old church tower excavated in 1928 is a short stretch of walling 0.2 m. high and 1.2 m. long outside the west gable of the modern church at HY 3107 1245.

A Roman Catholic priest's gravestone stood in the churchyard until it was destroyed in 1939 (P Leith c. 1956), suggesting that the old church was built prior to the Reformation.

The modern church and churchyard are still in use. No trace could be found of the 16th century tombstones.

Site of old church deduced from Commission measurements.

Visited by OS (NKB) 11 May 1966.

'The Orcadian' in 1907 states that a number of grave mounds were found without gravestones when new foundations were dug. One mound was said to contain simple bronze brooches (that time in the possession of a Mr Murison.

M Howe 2006