Cornholm, Copinsay
Chapel (Medieval)(Possible), Enclosure (Period Unassigned), Fishing Bothy (Post Medieval), Monastic Settlement (Medieval)(Possible)
Site Name Cornholm, Copinsay
Classification Chapel (Medieval)(Possible), Enclosure (Period Unassigned), Fishing Bothy (Post Medieval), Monastic Settlement (Medieval)(Possible)
Alternative Name(s) Corn Holm; Kirkholm
Canmore ID 3250
Site Number HY60SW 1
NGR HY 6005 0173
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/3250
- Council Orkney Islands
- Parish St Andrews And Deerness
- Former Region Orkney Islands Area
- Former District Orkney
- Former County Orkney
HY60SW 1 6005 0173
(HY 6005 0173) Chapel (NR) (Remains of)
OS 6" map, Orkney, 2nd ed.,(1903).
Local fishermen say this is the ruins of a fisherman's house.
Visited by OS (EGC) 14 June 1957
Chapel site and hut foundations: the chapel has now been destroyed, but in 1774 Low (G Low 1879) described it as a building 17ft long by 15ft wide with walls 5ft thick and a very low door. A deep well containing a stair was nearby.
In 1930 there were at least 14 rectangular or circular foundations grouped on the S fringe of an adjacent once-cultivated area, the rectangular ones measuring frm 21ft by 18ft to 24ft by 21ft and the circular ones about 15ft in diameter overall.
They resemble those found in association with chapels on the Brough of Deerness (HY50NE 1) and the Brough of Birsay (HY22NW 1) and were possibly the cells of ecclesiastics (G Low 1879; J Mooney 1926).
RCAHMS 1946, visited 5 June 1930.
There is no sign of the chapel: the ruins shown on the OS 6" are probably those of a farm building or fishermans house with associated enclosure, and there are some vague wall footings some 28.0m to the SW. Coastal erosion has removed all trace of the other foundations recorded above.
Visited by OS (NKB), 29 August 1964.
In 1774 Low described the chapel of Corn Holm (Kirkholm) as a small building 17 feet (4.6m) wide, with walls 5 feet (1.5m) thick and a door so low as to cause one to stoop on entering. The 1905 6-inch map (OS) locates it near the ruined fisherman's bothy at the Copinsay end of the island; the site is at the NE end of a great ruin-mound which extends 90m along the shore and stands nearly 2m in maximum height. A complexity of low wall-footings on various alignments and evidently belonging to different periods can be seen here. A small excavation by Mooney in the 1920s exposed what was said to be a corner of the chapel.
G Low 1879; J Mooney 1926; RCAHMS 1946; R G Lamb 1974; RCAHMS 1987, visited July 1972.
A small unroofed building, which may be the fishman's house as noted by the OS in 1964, attached to an enclosure is depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Orkney and Shetland (Orkney) 1882, sheet cxvi).
Part of the enclosure is shown on the current edition of the OS 1:10000 map (1970).
Information from RCAHMS (AKK), 24 November 2000.
Orkney Smr Note
....the obscure foundations of small buildings, possibly the cells of ecclesiasticks. [R1]
Hut Foundatons, Corn Holm - A good part of the adjoining ground has evidently been under cultivation for some time, but on the S fringe of the area there are at least 14 rectangular or circular foundations grouped together, the rectangular ones measuring from 21ft x 18ft to 24ft x 21ft, and the circular ones about 15ft in diameter overall. [R2]
...a group of nearly square huts.... There are 13 so far located by the writer. They average 20ft square overall the length generally exceeding the width by 2-3ft. They seem to form two groups with slightly different alignments.
These settlements cannot be interpreted as forts.they were selected by someone who wished to achieve utter isolation. [R3] see also OR1896
HY60SW (M) - About 80m due S of HY60SW? is a heap of large stones (largest 2m x 0.9m). Probably natural rock and field clearance. OS visit May 1973. OS card does not give a 1:10,000 sheet number. Therefore
this location cannot be identified. AR 1988. see also OR1896 & OR1897
Information from Orkney SMR [n.d.]
