Irvine, St Mary's Chapel
Chapel (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Irvine, St Mary's Chapel
Classification Chapel (Period Unassigned)
Canmore ID 41928
Site Number NS33NW 23
NGR NS 3225 3853
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/41928
- Council North Ayrshire
- Parish Irvine
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Cunninghame
- Former County Ayrshire
NS33NW 23 3225 3853
(NS 3225 3853) Supposed Site of a (NAT) Chapel (NR)
OS 25" map (1856).
See also NS33NW 9.
There was a convent belonging to the Carmelite or white Friars at Irvine (see NS33NW 7). Though no vestiges of it now remain, several people can remember seeing some fragments of its walls near the south corner of the churchyard; 'that piece of ground now being in my possession, I lately dug up part of the foundations.'
OSA 1794
Prior to the Reformation, a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary stood on the bank of the River Irvine, near to the present church. A grant to it was confirmed in 1471-2.
G Chalmers 1824.
The remains to which this name is applied were found some years ago; there were also parts of an old wall above the surface. No trace now remains. No-one can say whether these remains were those of the chapel noted by Chalmers or the convent described in the OSA. However, tradition, together with the name of the nearby well (Chapel Well: see NS33NW 9) tends to support the former idea.
Name Book 1856
No trace, and no further information. The southern part of the churchyard is on a marked SW-facing slope, and the former OS siting is located at the bottom of this slope by the riverbank.
Visited by OS (JRL), 8 June 1982.
