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Sanday, Ladykirk
Building (Prehistoric)(Possible), Midden (Prehistoric)(Possible)
Site Name Sanday, Ladykirk
Classification Building (Prehistoric)(Possible), Midden (Prehistoric)(Possible)
Alternative Name(s) Lady Kirk, Sanday
Canmore ID 3397
Site Number HY63NE 11
NGR HY 67639 39843
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/3397
- Council Orkney Islands
- Parish Lady
- Former Region Orkney Islands Area
- Former District Orkney
- Former County Orkney
HY63NE 11 6767 3986
For building at HY 6766 3987, see also HY63NE 29.
(Area: HY 676 399) Mounds immediately outside Lady Churchyard (HY63NE 4) point to some structure of an elaborate nature and in the face of the bank on the shore may be seen vestiges of ancient buildings (H Marwick 1923).
This is probably the prehistoric kitchen-midden mentioned by RCAHMS as adjoining the church.
RCAHMS 1946, visited 1928.
The mounds described by Marwick are centred at HY 6767 3986 in an area of disturbed ground which shows no positive indication of structures, and the whole may be due to quarrying. The only stonework seen in the shoreline were the footings of a partly collapsed modern wall. No midden material was seen.
Visited by OS (AA) 13 July 1970.
Note (1980)
Ladykirk, Sanday HY 6767 3986 HY63NE 11
Marwick observed mounds which are probably quarry spoil, and 'vestiges of ancient buildings' in the shore section, while RCAHMS records a midden. Shore banks are grassy, and only visible features are a few burnt stones and a short length of what is probably a modern wall.
RCAHMS 1980
(Marwick 1923a, 26-7; RCAHMS 1946, ii, p. 165, No. 436; p. 173, No. 482; OR 144)
Field Visit (1999)
Suspected archaeological remains have been reported to the east and south sides of the cemetery at Ladykirk. The remains on the east side are difficult to verify; the area is uneven and overgrown and the most identifiable elements appear to be a series of quarry hollows. On the south side, an erosion face containing archaeological deposits has been exposed by the sea. This section lies to the seaward side of an amorphous mounded area, beneath the modern cemetery enclosure wall. It extends for 5m and is up to 1.5m high. The greater part of the remains comprise of a wall, buried beneath 0.8m of soil, which is up to 7 courses/ 0.9m high and slumped inward. A probable floor surface, formed from closely-fitted flat slabs, extends from the base of the wall on to the foreshore. Anthropogenic soils associated with this contain both burnt and unburnt mammal and fish bone. While the walling may be no more than the remains of an earlier cemetery enclosure, it is more likely to be the remains of an older building, possibly even of medieval date. Ref.: Marwick, H (1923) 'Antiquarian notes on Sanday', POAS, 1 (1922-3), 26-7; RCAHMS (1946) #436; RCAHMS (1980) #79.
Coastal Zone Assessment Survey, 1999
