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Fordell Chapel
Chapel (17th Century)
Site Name Fordell Chapel
Classification Chapel (17th Century)
Canmore ID 50866
Site Number NT18NW 5
NGR NT 14655 85350
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/50866
- Council Fife
- Parish Dalgety
- Former Region Fife
- Former District Dunfermline
- Former County Fife
NT18NW 5.00 1464 8534
NT18NW 5.01 NT 1467 8533 Well
(NT 1464 8534) Chapel (NR)
OS 6" map (1967)
Fordell Chapel, restored some years ago, is a mortuary chapel built in 1650. It is said to occupy the site of the old chapel of St Theriot, Therotus or Theoretus. Uoret, an 8th century cleric, may be represented by St Terott or Tirot, Teorot, whose chapel was in Fordel, 1570, 1611 (W J Watson 1926). Noted in 1510 (Reg Magni Sig Reg Scot).
RCAHMS 1933, visited 1925; D MacGibbon and T Ross 1887
This chapel, now disused, is as described. It is in good condition, with restoration work currently in progress.
Visited by OS (AC) 11 March 1959.
Field Visit (3 August 1925)
Fordell Chapel.
Within the gardens of Fordell, about 50 yards south-west of the Castle is a mortuary chapel built by Sir John Henderson of Fordell in 1650. It is an oblong structure measuring 44 ½ by 20 ½ feet over walls 2 ½ feet in thickness. The elevations are balanced in the Renaissance manner, but the windows are late Gothic in fashion with traceried heads. The windows are flanked by panels bearing the initials S.I.H., for Sir John Henderson the builder, D.M.H. for Dame Margaret Hamiltoun his wife, I.H. and I.M., for John Henderson and Jean Murray, his wife, and S.I.H. and D.A.B., for Sir John Henderson and, apparently, Dame Agnes Bruce, * whose grave slab is on the floor and who died in 1656.
The entrance to the chapel is in the south wall through a Renaissance doorway, above the cornice of which is an armorial panel within a moulded border. The shield is parted per pale: dexter, three piles issuing out of the dexter side, a crescent between two ermine dots in chief for Henderson of Fordell; sinister, a bend checky between six buckles, for Monteath. Below the shield is a label inscribed, I. HENDERSON and M. MONTEATH, the initials being repeated in monogram at the centre. The shield is supported by animals with beards and horses' tails, has a crude mantling with close helm and, as crest, a hand holding a mullet with a crescent above. At the top of the panel is a label inscribed, SOLA VIRTVS 1650 NOBILITAT ("Virtue alone ennobles"). On the west gable is a belfry, embattled and having a tiny slated spire which may be modern. The chapel was restored some years ago, when a burial vault, with an access from within the building, was formed in the steep bank to the south. The roof is modern, but the windows of German and Flemish painted glass contain a collection of roundels and panels, in some cases armorial, dating from the 16th century onwards. Within the chapel are tablets commemorating various members of the family, and their initials and date of decease appear on the flags of the floor. The building is said to occupy the site of the old chapel of St. "Therotus" (1) or "Theoretus." (2)
RCAHMS 1933, visited 3 August 1925.
(1) Reg. Mag. Sig. (1511), No. 3570. (2) Inquis. Spec. Fife (1625), No. 363.
*She was wife of John Murray of Drumphine.
