Arran, Lamlash, Kilbride Chapel

(Kilbride, Isles). One of the two parish churches of Arran, the church of St Bride was granted by John of Menteith, lord of Arran and Knapdale, to Kilwinning c. 1337, this being confirmed by David II in 1364, Robert III (1390 x 1406) and by Pope Benedict XIII in 1407/8. Nevertheless, the patronage lay with the crown in 1437, probably passing to James, lord Hamilton with the earldom of Arran in 1503, and being confirmed to that earldom in in 1540. The grant may, however, have been common form as neither church is designated by name, and both parsonage and vicarage teinds appear to have been annexed by this date to the bishops of the Isles, who held them at the Reformation.

I B Cowan 1967.

NS03SW 5.00 03229 32276

(NS 0322 3227) Kilbride Chapel (NR) (In Ruins)

OS 6" map, (1924)

NS03SW 5.01 NS 03224 32260 Churchyard

NS03SW 5.02 Cross

Kilbride Chapel, subsequently the parish church, is first mentioned in 1357. It is now ruinous, with small arched doors and windows. A modern fence, running N-S, intersects the building; E of it is a small chamber, paved with gravestones. Some years ago, the E gable fell into ruins among which a monogrammed stone, dated 1618 was found. This stone (see illustration Card) was built into the wall when the gable was reconstructed; it is now partly ivy-covered. No doubt it was presented by the Marquis of Hamilton, patron of Kilbride. There is a cruciform headstone within the chapel. Another was found a few years ago beneath the ruins of the chapel, and is now placed over the grave of a sailor washed ashore in Lamlash Bay. A third was found in may 1892 when digging within a few yards of the E side of church.

Balfour alleges that the latter cross, now lying face down within the chapel, was removed from the burial ground on Holy Island (NS03SE 1) about 1858, and buried in the churchyard here. Many grave-slabs in the burial ground have been effaced, but some are shown on Illustration.

Sources: J McArthur 1873; D Landsborough 1897; J A Balfour 1909; J A Balfour 1910.

Kilbride Chapel (name confirmed) (information from Miss Burns, Kilbride) measures 20.0m east-west by 8.0m and is now roofless, the walls

standing to a height of 3.0m. It is incorporated in the present day burial ground and has a number of gravestones within it. The fence has gone but the dividing wall is still complete. Several re-used dressed stones can be seen in the walling together with some blocked windows.

A few original windows, however, are still intact.

The monogrammed stone is clearly visible in the outside of the east wall but there is no trace of any of the cruciform headstones.

Visited by OS (B S) 27 October 1977.

The ruin of one of the two medieval parish churches of Arran stands in a burial-ground on the S-facing hillside 400m from the NW shore of Lamlash Bay. A late medieval graveslab is fixed to the E wall of the church, and others have been recorded in the burial-ground but cannot now be identified. A cross of unusual character, bearing a Crucifixion and probably of 16th-century date, was found E of the church in 1892 and has been re-erected in front of the present parish church in Lamlash (1). A disc-headed slab bearing a cross-of-arcs was recorded in the churchyard before 1867 and again exposed about 1910, but its present location is unknown. It was presumably one of the two 'cruciform head-stones' that were noted by 19th-century writers (2). It comprised a circular head about 0.27m in diameter rising from a plain slab about 0.3m wide, the overall height being about 0.55m (3). The head had a flat margin within which a cross-of-arcs was executed in low relief, the four diagonal 'petals' having sunken oval centres. Balfour states that there was a similar 'quatrefoil' on the other face of the stone.

(Stuart 1867, pl.122, 4; Allen and Anderson 1903, 3, 417; Balfour 1910, 1, 222 and pl.36, 2; Cross 1984, A5).

Footnotes:

(1) M'Arthur 1873, 164-70; Balfour 1910, 1, 219-24; Landsborough 1897, 74-7. Balfour states that the cross was brought from Holy Island about 1860 (Balfour 1909, 148-9).

(2) M'Arthur 1873, 166; Landsborough 1897, 77.

(3) The dimensions are calculated from the scale in Stuart 1867, pl.122, 4.

I Fisher 2001.

NS 0322 3227 St Brides is a 14th-century chapel, and 2008 marks the beginning of a project to devise a conservation and management plan to ensure collaboration by the Council and community in the future care of the chapel and its historic burial ground. The project aims to improve physical and intellectual access to the site, provide physical repair and consolidation for the chapel and memorials and research and make accessible information on the history, development and significance of the site.

Archive: RCAHMS (intended)

Funder: North Ayrshire Council and Entrust

Sarah Mackinnon (Strathclyde Building Preservation Trust), 2008

NS 0314 3222 A programme of archaeological work was carried out, November 2016 – June 2017, prior to the extension to Lamlash Cemetery. An 8% evaluation, consisting of eight trenches of 21–30m in length recorded several features. These consisted of several small pit and posthole features and a series of dark silt spreads. These were located across four trenches and were mostly around a gentle break in the slope towards the S and W of the area under investigation. All the features were quite charcoal rich, and four small posthole or pit features within Trench 6 formed an alignment. Two fragments of worked pitchstone were recovered within Trench 4.

In May 2017, a watching brief was carried out during topsoil stripping the NE corner of the site. Three features were encountered and fully excavated: two small charcoal rich pits and a small linear ditch feature, from which a sherd of green glaze ceramic was recovered.

In June 2017, a watching brief was carried out during groundwork associated with the installation of a new badger fence around the area of the extension. A small section of the to the NE of the site was not monitored due to access issues. The excavation of 0.5m wide trench into the subsoil along the perimeter of the area revealed two features, which were fully excavated.

Archive: NRHE (intended)

Funder: North Ayrshire Council

Beth Spence – GUARD Archaeology Ltd

(Source: DES, Volume 18)

Archaeological monitoring works were undertaken during consolidation works undertaken at St Bride's Chapel, Lamlash under Scheduled Monument Consent. The consolidation works included raking-out and repointing, plus consolidation of the wallhead and the removal of trees which had rooted in the wall core. The removal of the root mass resulted in the limited downtaking of masonry, and archaeological input was required both to inform on the likely impact of any proposed works and to record any masonry prior to its removal and reconstruction. The completion of a baseline survey yielded valuable insights into the building and the component fabrics used to construct it. These insights, in turn, were able to contribute to our broader understanding of the structure, though the complexity of the narrative evident within its fabric means that any conclusions presented here must be considered a starting point for further research and exploration, rather than a definitive summary. The removal of the tree roots was able to take place without disturbing the church's early fabric, and the consolidation works have now been completed and the structure stabilised and made safe for the foreseeable future.

Information from OASIS ID: rathmell1-304685 (L Turner) 2018

The location, classification and period of this site have been reviewed.

HES Survey and Recording 29 October 2018