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Dunnet Head, Chapel Geo
Chapel (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Dunnet Head, Chapel Geo
Classification Chapel (Period Unassigned)
Canmore ID 8559
Site Number ND17SE 1
NGR ND 1872 7291
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/8559
- Council Highland
- Parish Dunnet
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Caithness
- Former County Caithness
ND17SE 1 1872 7291
(ND 1872 7291) Chapel (NR)
OS 6" map, (1959)
The remains of a small, drystone chapel said to have been a hermitage or place of penance. There are other ruins in the vicinity, but it is not known if there is any association with the chapel.
Name Book 1873.
The site does not have the same general appearance as other ecclesiastical sites in the county, but the local people call it 'the Chapel'.
D Beaton 1909.
The footings of a small rectangular chapel on level ground at the foot of a S-facing slope. It measures 4.7m E-W by 2.1m transversely within a dry-built wall of dressed blocks varying between 1.1 and 1.4m in thickness. The interior is largely filled with turf-covered debris, but the inner face in the NE corner is visible to a height of 1.0m. A gap 0.9m wide at the W end of the S wall is probably the doorway. Immediately outside the SE corner is a boulder bearing the initials J S and D M and date 1838.
Some 130m E of the chapel, on a slight knoll, are the footings of two shieling-like structures, one of which is 2.5m square, and a stretch of contemporary walling. About 50.0m towards the chapel from them is another wall running up the slope and ending near the top on a natural cavity in the rock which looks as though it could be a silted-up well. There is no suggestion here of monastic associations.
Visited by OS (I S S) 9 March 1972.
(ND 1872 7291) Chapel (NR) (remains of)
OS 1:10,000 map, (1975)
The chapel and other features are as described in the previous field report. There are indications of indefinite banking at the E end of the chapel, possibly delimiting the remains of a small structure.
Visited by OS (J B) 24 December 1981.
There is a possible entrance in the NW corner of the chapel.
Other adjacent structures are:
(a) ND 1879 7286. A rectangular, grass and heather-covered structure, 0.5m high and lying E-W, with some stone visible.
(b): ND 1879 7284. A rectangular, heather-covered structure, 4m E-W by 2m, with stones visible.
(c): ND 1883 7292. A poorly preserved stretch of heather-covered wall, 20m long E-W by 0.5m high.
(d): ND 1881 7291. A rectangular, heather-covered stone structure, 6m E-W by 3m by 0.5m high.
R J Mercer 1981.
