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Introduction
The parish church was supposed to be the focal
point for communities, but it was not the only venue
for religious devotions. Chapels and other devotional
sites, such as wells and wayside crosses, were
widespread in the ecclesiastical landscape, so they
would have been central to many peoples’ lives, and
we cannot understand medieval religious practices
without a better understanding of these buildings
and their functions. For example, in the Hebrides,
there are over two hundred potential chapel sites
recorded by the Royal Commission on the Ancient
and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS)
in Canmore. These sites force us to think beyond
the parish church as the sole representative of religious
practice and to look at how we define and
categorize chapels. Contained within the designation
of chapel are a whole host of different types of
buildings with very different functions, founders,
and users. The identification of the different types
of chapel is challenging, particularly for the medieval
Hebrides, where there are few contemporary
historical sources for chapels. For example, there
are only eight references to chapels in late medieval
sources for the Hebrides: Teampull na Trionaid on
North Uist is recorded in a charter of 1389 (Munro
and Munro 1986:13), the chapel in the church of St
Comgan’s of Duirinish is mentioned in a papal letter
of 1382 (Burns 1976:79), Nave Island’s chapel on
Islay is listed by Archdeacon Monro in 1549 (Monro
1999:313), St. Mary’s of Tobermory on Mull is recorded
in a crown rental of 1509 (ER xiii:215), while
the final four sites on Texa Island, Orsay Island,
Finlaggan, and St Columba’s (all on Islay) are listed
in the same crown rental of 1509 (ER xiii:219).
The potential chapel sites in the two parishes to be
studied below are either recorded as archaeological
sites or through place-names and occasionally are
associated with local traditions that give us a hint as
to their previous functions.
If we want to understand how these chapels
functioned, we have to look elsewhere for comparative
material. Chapels in medieval Scotland
have not been much studied, apart from discussions
of individual sites (Rennie 1999). We have to look
to England for national and regional surveys of
medieval chapels; these studies, which are primarily
based on historical sources, particularly those
by Nicholas Orme (1996), Gervase Rosser (1991),
and N.G.J. Pounds (2000), have discussed four
main chapel types: dependent, cult, private, and
locational. The use of comparative material from
England is valid given that by the thirteenth century,
the diocese of Sodor, of which the Hebrides
was part, had “a diocesan and parochial structure
comparable to that found in most parts of western
Europe” (Cheney 1984a:67). The evidence for
Cheney’s statement can be found in the synodal
statutes of the diocese of Sodor, dating to 1230,
1292, and 1351, which deal with enforcing clerical
behavior, guidance on religious observance and instruction,
as well as the parishioners’ obligations to
the Church (Cheney 1984b). While the statutes do
not copy word-for-word statutes from England and
Scotland, a practice common in medieval Europe,
they contain some phrases which can identified as
originating in either Scottish or English statutes.
Thus, for example, in the 1292 statutes, chapters
24 and 30 seem, according to Cheney (1984a:70),
to be from the Scottish statutes, while chapter 2
of the same statutes has its closest parallel in a
statute of the diocese of Carlisle from 1258 or
1259. Furthermore, the statutes show the impact,
even in this comparatively remote diocese, of the
canons of the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215,
particularly with reference to parochial provision
Beyond the Parish Church: A Study of Chapels in the Parishes of
Kirkapoll on Tiree and Snizort on Skye
Sarah Thomas*
Abstract - The ecclesiastical landscape of dispersed rural communities in the late Middle Ages consisted both of their parish
church and other structures usually referred to as chapels. The laity’s main encounters with the Church were meant to
occur at the parish church to which they belonged from the cradle to the grave; however, in practice, the laity’s allegiances
were much more complex. This article discusses with reference to two parishes in the Hebrides how we can identify different
chapel types and the implications this has for our understanding of medieval religious devotions. It will seek to
demonstrate the breadth and diversity of religious practice in the late medieval Hebrides.
Special Volume 9:67–82
2010 Hebridean Archaeology Forum
Journal of the North Atlantic
*Department of History, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX; S.E.Thomas@hull.ac.uk.
2015
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(Cheney 1984a:72). The synodal statutes were
enacted on the Isle of Man by the bishop and the
clergy of Man, but there is a direct reference from
a fifteenth-century papal petition to the synodal
statutes of Sodor, which indicates that either these
statutes or something very similar was applied
to the rest of the diocese (Kirk et al. 1997:166).
Clearly, when using comparative material, one has
to be aware of the differences of parochial development
between England and Scotland, and given
the diocese of Sodor’s inclusion in the Norwegian
church province of Nidaros, Norwegian parochial
development also has to be taken into account, but
this does not exclude careful use of English secondary
literature (see, for example, Addleshaw 1953;
Brink 1998; Cant 1984; Cowan 1995a, b; Pounds
2000; Rogers 1997). We must acknowledge that
there may have been peculiarities or exceptions as
a result of differences in parochial development.
Thus, for example, if the parochial system in the
Hebrides was based on the Norwegian prestegjeld,
or enlarged parishes, as Cant (1984:8–12) argued,
we might find that there were more dependent chapels
than in smaller English parishes. We may of
course find that there are chapels which cannot be
easily assigned a chapel type or which overlap into
at least two types.
These four chapel types—dependent, cult, private,
and locational—form the basis of a preliminary
typology of chapels. The key question is: how
can we determine function and use from structures
which often have few surviving remains and are
largely undocumented? Characteristics for identifying
dependent chapels are: distance from the
parish church, proximity to secular settlement, the
size of the building (was it suitable for communal
worship?), indications from the architecture and
building materials that this was funded by the local
community, and evidence for baptism and burial in
the form of a font and medieval grave-slabs. The
private or oratory chapel is to be identified by its
proximity to lordly residences, and by the investment
in building. The cult chapel is more complicated
to identity: some of its key characteristics are
the absence of features potentially associated with
dependent chapels, i.e., no burial ground. Some
cult chapels are to be found on the periphery of
settlement, but others will have been deliberately
placed in the vicinity of settlement. If most cult
chapels were built by communities or groups of
devotees we might expect them to be small and
of relatively restricted building materials. Placenames
and local traditions may also provide evidence
of devotional activities. Some cult sites may
have had their origins in the early Middle Ages and
as a result were the focus of devotional activity in
the high and Late Middle Ages because of the perceived
sanctity of site or a direct association with
a local early Medieval saint. It is therefore worth
looking for evidence of early medieval use such as
crosses, enclosures, and structures such as cell-like
features. The final category, locational chapels,
have some similar characteristics to the cult chapels.
However, cult chapels were devoted to the
worship of a particular saint, whereas a locational
chapel is defined as being deliberately placed in
a specific location. Location is therefore the key
characteristic combined with historical and or local
traditions that may explain the choice of location.
This methodology requires an interdisciplinary
approach: a willingness to use material ranging from
early modern travellers’ accounts to place-name studies
and early maps in addition to the physical archaeological
evidence. We have to acknowledge that using
such varied sources presents its own challenges. The
study of place-names is complicated in the Hebrides
because of the settlement and language history that
saw Gaelic and Pictish, then Norse and later further
Gaelic, settlement. Place-name elements such as
kil-, kirk- or teampull can help us determine where
churches were located, which is particularly useful
for those sites where there is no longer any physical
archaeological remains. Such elements combined
with the personal name of a saint can indicate with
whom the chapel was associated. There are potential
problems with the use of place-names, not least because,
as Clancy (2010:10–11) pointed out, there is
always the possibility that the personal name refers
not to the saint but to the patron of the church. Early
maps and early modern travellers’ accounts also often
document sites that either have no physical remains
or have changed significantly in the intervening period.
Thus, for example, the chapel site at Crossapoll
on Coll is described by James Boswell in the autumn
of 1773 at which point there were visible foundations
of a chapel structure, this structure is no longer
apparent and may have been eroded into the sea
(Pottle and Bennett 1936:286). Early maps such as
Turnbull’s map of Tiree of 1768–9 not only recorded
some church sites but also include descriptions of
some sites. Turnbull’s map was based on a survey that
he had conducted on Tiree in 1768–1769 (Johnston
1995:112). Both types of source materials have their
drawbacks; we cannot assume that they recorded all
sites, and indeed, their primary interest was not antiquities.
There is also value in the nineteenth and early
twentieth century antiquarian accounts like those of
Erskine Beveridge and William Reeves (Beveridge
1903, Reeves 1854). Beveridge and Reeves recorded
not only their observations of physical remains, but
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also local traditions and place-names recounted to
them by the local inhabitants. Such descriptions are
also valuable for their observations of features that
may have entirely disappeared over the last hundred
years. However, the antiquarian work was, for the
most part, piecemeal and very selective about the
sites described and in terms of this article’s focus,
only Tiree, not Skye, received attention from Reeves
and Beveridge. A final source and one used particularly
for the case study of the parish of Snizort on Skye is
the Statistical Accounts of Scotland and specifically
the Old Statistical Accounts (OSA) of 1791–1799
for the parishes of Snizort and Portree. The quality
and detail of the descriptions in the OSA depend on
the author of the parish description, usually either the
minster or the schoolmaster; thus, Snizort’s account
is considerably shorter and less concerned with early
church sites than Portree’s (Campbell 1791–1799,
MacLeod 1791–1799).
Dependent chapels, alternatively called chapelsof-
ease, were incorporated into the parochial structure.
They were primarily meant to serve communities
distant from the parish church or communities
that faced particular difficulties accessing the parish
church, for instance, in winter (Pounds 2000:93).
Distant communities seem to have been interpreted
by English bishops as those communities which
were more than two miles from their parish church
and which therefore faced a more than four-mile
round trip; Bishop Johannes de Pontissara’s synodal
statutes of circa 1295 stated that chapels which
were subject to the parish church and were over two
miles distant should have burial grounds (Deedes
1916:210–211). Pope Gregory IX had written in
1233 to Archbishop Walter Gray of York advising
him that given the large parishes in his province,
chapels might be founded to serve distant communities
(Raine 1872:167–168). Gregory IX’s letter,
however, did not define what was meant by distant.
Martin Martin’s account of the Hebrides circa 1695
recorded that the inhabitants of Lewis would stop
and pray on their way to church while they were still
four miles distant from the church (Munro 1999:29).
On Lewis, even the two closest medieval parish
churches were twelve miles apart, which meant that
parishioners living near the boundary would have
been faced with at least five or six miles to walk to
church.1 In less populated areas, longer distances
may have been more acceptable than in more densely
populated areas.
Dependent chapels were also to be found in detached
portions of parishes whose inhabitants would
otherwise have faced a long journey to their parish
church across at least one other parish. For example,
the parish of Dull in Highland Perthshire had several
detached portions which contained dependent chapels,
including those of Foss in Strathtummel and
St. Mary’s at Grandtully (School of Art History, University
of St. Andrews 2008). Foss is approximately
nine miles northwest of Dull, while St Mary’s is
approximately seven miles east of Dull. In the midthirteenth
century, Foss had a resident chaplain who
was supposed to receive five marks of income (St.
Andrews Liber 1845:307–308). It seems to have had
a reasonably sized chapel structure, measuring approximately
10.25 m x 3.99 m with an area of 40.89
m², a burial ground, and maybe even a font.
Distance was not the only factor that was considered;
problems in accessing the parish church were
often listed in petitions seeking to obtain dependent
status. Problems included flooding, snow, rocky and
mountainous routes, and bandits. For example, in
May 1391, the inhabitants of the village of Carleton
in the diocese of York petitioned the Pope for permission
to bury their dead at their local chapel because
they were sometimes unable to reach their parish
church because the river Ayre was “sometimes so
flooded that they cannot convey their dead” (Bliss
and Twemlow 1902:392). While the flooding of the
river Ayre sounds a plausible explanation, others exaggerated
the physical difficulty faced by those who
had to attend the parish church; for example, the parishioners
of Kingsbridge in Devon claimed that their
parish church was at the top of “a lofty mountain”,
whereas, as Pounds (2000:94) points out, it is only
100 m above sea level. Claims of difficulty of access
might be stressed by stating that newborns were dying
without baptism and adults without confession.
Bishops had the authority to grant dependent
status to chapels, but it was a status that was much
restricted, as discussed above. However, communities
might also appeal to the papacy either
because the bishop had refused or because of a
perception that the papacy provided a more secure
status. These chapels usually had the right to divine
services, but the rights to baptism and burial were
more difficult to obtain and less frequently granted
(Orme 1996:79–80). From the fourteenth century,
papal mandates granting permission for burial at
chapels became increasingly common; for example,
in 1463, a chapel in the diocese of Lincoln was
granted burial rights because parishioners were unable
to reach the parish church as a result of floods
and other dangers (Twemlow 1933:222–3). The
main users of dependent chapels would have been
members of these distant communities. A dependent
chapel might have a permanent priest or chaplain,
either provided by the parish rector or paid for
by the community, and regular services would be
conducted (Orme 1996:88).
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In terms of categorizing undocumented archaeological
chapel sites, a chapel site which is distant
from the parish church is perhaps more likely to
have had dependent status than one in close proximity;
yet the latter might have had dependent status if it
was particularly difficult to access the parish church
from that location. Other criteria for identifying dependent
sites are the existence of a font and burial
ground. Chapel size and construction method, where
these can be analyzed, are also potential indicators
of status; dependent chapels were, after all, meant to
accommodate the laity, and therefore it is likely that
they would not be particularly small. We have to be
aware that judgements on what constitutes a small or
medium-sized chapel will tend to be based on local
circumstances. In a Hebridean context, a small chapel
might have an area of no more 25 m², a mediumsized
chapel at least 25 m², and a large chapel at
least 40 m². This categorization is based on analysis
of 97 chapel sites in the Hebrides with sufficient
remains to measure: out of the 97, 40 can be classed
as small, 30 as medium sized, and 27 as large.2 The
smallest chapel, St Flannan’s in the Flannan Isles,
has an internal area of only 3.45 m² (NMRS number:
NA74NW 1), while the second largest chapel,
Kilchiaran on Islay, has an internal area of 73.95 m²
(NMRS number: NR26SW 6). The largest chapel,
Teampull na Trionaid, is exceptionally large at 121.8
m² (NMRS number: NF86SW 24). Conversely, since
these chapels were most commonly constructed by
the local community, which might have had limited
resources, we can expect these structures to be built
using local stone with few or no freestone dressings.
For example, the dependent chapels of Kilchiaran
and Kilnaughton, respectively in the parishes of
Kilchoman and Kildalton on Islay, are constructed
of uncoursed local rubble and boulders bonded
with lime mortar, and any dressings are of the same
stone (RCAHMS 1984:194, 217–218). Both chapels
are large; Kilchiaran has an area of 73.95 m² and
Kilnaughton is 52.65 m². The wealth of the community,
e.g., whether they had a wealthy patron to
supply resources, must have determined the size and
complexity of dependent chapel structures.
Dependent chapels are the only ones which had
a place in the parochial structures. Private or oratory
chapels can be classed as semi-official since they
had to be licensed by the bishop in order for divine
services to take place (Pounds 2000:100). For example,
during the episcopate of Bishop John de Grandisson
of Exeter, 1328–1369, there were 22 licenses
granted for oratory chapels in Cornwall (Hingeston-
Randolph 1894–1897:492, 493, 525, 532, 553, 584,
587, 588–591, 594, 602–603, 605, 607, 624–627,
634, 648, 653–654, 696–697, 750, 775, 819, 890,
and 910). In the high Middle Ages, oratory chapels
were not necessarily consecrated, but from the thirteenth
century onwards, bishops were more forthright
in demanding consecration (Pounds 2000:101).
The oratory chapels were a place where the lord
and his family might hear mass and pray in private.
These private chapels were most commonly located
in the vicinity of a castle or other power center or
within such a building. For example, Lochleven
castle had a chapel integrated into the structure of
the building, while the chapel at Tullibardine was in
the vicinity of the castle (Fawcett 1998:88). The size
of the castle may have influenced whether a chapel
was within the main building or in the vicinity. Private
chapels were not meant to be used by the laity
in general, although there are examples of private
chapels being used by the lord’s tenants (Rosser
1992:182). Private chapels would have been served
by a chaplain who was employed by the lord. Papal
petitions and Lordship charters provide evidence of
five clerics who served as chaplains to the Lords of
the Isles (Munro 1986:239).
The size of private chapels would have varied
according to the requirements and resources of the
patron; for example, the chapel associated with
Dunstaffnage castle in Argyll has an internal area
of 127.9 m², while the one at the power center of
the Lordship of the Isles, Finlaggan on Islay, is only
38.25 m² (RCAHMS 1975:124–9, 1984:279). These
two chapels also contrast architecturally; Finlaggan
was constructed in roughly coursed rubble bonded
with lime mortar, while the builders of Dunstaffnage
used rectangular blocks with courses of pinnings
between each main course of blocks (Caldwell and
Ruckley 2005:102, RCAHMS 1984:279). Dunstaffnage
had eight windows decorated internally
with either nook shaft or dog-toothed ornament,
while excavations at Finlaggan reveal two pieces of
grey-yellow sandstone, which Caldwell (2010:214)
suggests were rybats from the north and south windows.
Free-standing private chapel structures are the
easiest chapel-type to identify because convenience
means that they are almost always associated with a
castle or lordly residence. However, private chapels
within castle structures are not necessarily straightforward
to identify; in cases where a room or rooms
were specifically designed as a chapel or adapted,
features such as windows in the east wall—allowing
the light to fall on the altar—or an altar built into
the wall may indicate the room’s purpose. However,
there need not have been a specifically designed
room; in the later Middle Ages, the nobility and
gentry were able to gain licences, either from their
bishop or from the papacy, to have a portable altar.
A portable altar would thus transform a room into
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a chapel, and a licence might only be issued for a
short period of time, and therefore it might have
been considered too costly to alter a room significantly
(Pounds 2000:102). For elites who travelled
between different residences, portable altars meant
that they did not have to build chapels in all their
residences (Webb 2005:37). Portable altars ranged
in design from simple stone blocks with carved
consecration crosses, e.g., the sandstone portable
altar from Coldingham priory, to elaborate, detailed
panels made from ivory or metal and glass (Caldwell
1982:103).
Cult chapels were outside the parochial structure;
these tended to be devoted to the worship of particular
saint, either a popular local saint associated with
the location or a universal saint who was significant
to the local community. Such chapels might be the
focus of local pilgrimage or more widespread devotions.
Cult chapels were not required to be licensed
either by the bishop or the papacy, but bishops might
attempt to suppress a cult chapel either because they
disapproved of the specific devotions or because devotions
at that chapel were depriving another site of
valuable income. The category covers a wide range
of structures which have different location types and
potentially different users. Sites located in remote
locations are included; remote is defined as those
sites which are at the margins of the parish, or of secular
settlement and topographically remote. These
sites tend not to be on routes of travel, and therefore,
devotions at such a chapel would have involved a
dedicated journey of varying length and difficulty.
Cult chapels of this type include the chapels on Orsay
Island at the south end of Kilchoman parish on
Islay and Nave Island at the north end of the same
parish (RCAHMS 1984:225–228, 254–256). On the
other side of the spectrum, there were cult chapel
sites dedicated to a particular saint that were located
in the vicinity of settlement. For example, in the parish
of Duddingston, there was a chapel dedicated to
St Anthony, to which the rector of the parish in 1447
claimed that “the inhabitants of those parts flock on
feast days” (Dunlop and MacLauchlan 1983:330).
This chapel is situated on the northwest side of
Whinny Hill overlooking Edinburgh (Fig. 1). While
it might be considered difficult to access, given the
steep slope which must be climbed, it cannot be described
as remote.
Figure 1. St Anthony's chapel, Edinburgh.
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places of danger. Such chapels might only be there
for prayer with few or no services. Restrictions
might be placed on these chapels in order to ensure
that they did not infringe on the rights of the parish
church. Chapels at harbors tended to be dedicated
to St. Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors; for example,
there was a chapel devoted to St. Nicholas
at Plymouth (Orme 1996:87). In the Hebrides,
one locational chapel called Teampull A’Ghlinne,
(the church or chapel of the glen), seems to have
been located at the south end of Colonsay, about
750 m from the tidal strand which leads across
to Oronsay (Fig. 2). The RCAHMS recorded the
tradition that this chapel was used by travellers
and funeral parties waiting to cross to Oronsay
(RCAHMS 1984:258). In the diocese of Argyll,
the Campbells seem to have founded and endowed
a chapel, dedicated to St. Catherine, on Loch Fyne
at a ferry point. In a supplication of March 1466,
Colin Campbell sought an indulgence for masses
to be said there, although it was not yet consecrated,
and he claimed that his father had endowed
the chapel “for the sustentation of one chaplain”
(Kirk et al. 1997:326). Chapels founded on or near
battlefields include one built by Edward IV on the
battlefield of Barnet, which took place on 14 April
1471; while such chapels tended to be founded by
Place-names like Eilean Chaluim Chille on Skye,
the island of St. Columba, suggest an association,
even possibly a dedication, to that saint. However,
we have to acknowledge that all mediaeval churches
and chapels were dedicated to saints, and therefore,
surviving dedications are not enough on their own
to conclude that a site was a cult chapel site. Such
place-names have to be considered in conjunction
with other data such as location and associated structures.
Chapel size and construction are also factors
worth considering in respect of cult chapels; for the
most part, we might expect cult chapels to be small
structures, not designed for community worship, and
simply constructed if many of these sites were built
and maintained by local communities. Thus, construction
methods for cult chapels may include the
building in stone and turf without mortar or limited
use of mortar, but with no freestone dressings. Only
the most popular and successful cult chapels might
be able to have the resources devoted to them in order
to have more elaborate structures.
Finally, locational chapels were those sites that
were located in distinctive places, determined by
topography, routes of travel (including pilgrimage),
or specific events which the chapel commemorated,
e.g., battles. Prime locations for such chapels were
passes, harbors, ferry crossings, bridges, or other
Figure 2. Teampull a’ Ghlinne from the north-east, Colonsay.
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possible to map the lands and draw the boundary
between them. We thus see that the boundary between
Soroby and Kirkapoll parishes ran roughly
east–west, from a point to the west of Scarinish in
the southeast to the northwest of Ben Hough (ER
xiii:216–217). Snizort’s boundaries were reconstructed
using OPS’s boundaries with the early modern
MacDonald tacks (NRAS3273:190, 198, 203;
OPS 1854:354–55). The western boundary ran from
Loch Sligachan in the south to the Point of Lynedale
in the north, while its north boundary ran from Bearreraig
Bay on the east coast of the Trotternish peninsula
to north of Kingsburgh on its west coast.
Kirkapoll, Tiree
The first of our case-studies is the parish of
Kirkapoll on the island of Tiree (Fig. 3). This
parish comprises the northern half of Tiree; the
boundary between it and Soroby parish ran roughly
east–west, from a point to the west of Scarinish
in the southeast to the northwest of Ben Hough
(ER xiii:216–217). The parish has its focus at the
churches at the center of Kirkapoll Bay. At Kirkapoll
itself, there are two surviving medieval church
buildings: the parish church and chapel. There are
seven possible chapel sites in the parish: Kirkapoll
chapel, Balephetrish, Caibeal Thomais at Scarinish,
Crois A’ Chaolais, Cill Fhinnein at Kenovay, Kilbride,
and A’ Chrois. There are visible remains of
only two of these chapels.
The parish church dedicated to St. Columba is
recorded in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
The first reference to the church of Kirkapoll is from
1375, when a cleric named Niall MacFinnlaech was
revealed to have claimed unjustly that the church
of St Columba of Kirkapoll was vacant when in
fact it was legally occupied by Aed MacPeter (DN
VII no. 293). There are a further three recorded
clergy at this church from 1375 until 1472 (Dunlop
and MacLauchlan 1983:201, Kirk et al. 1997:360,
McGurk 1976:79). Prior to 1380, Kirkapoll seems
to have been in the possession of Ardchattan priory,
but by 1397 it had been transferred to the bishop of
Sodor (Burns 1976:46, Dunlop and MacLauchlan
1983:201). Thus, from 1397 onwards, the parish
church of Kirkapoll was appropriated by the
bishop of Sodor for his episcopal mensa, and the
two recorded fifteenth-century clergy were perpetual
vicars, not rectors (Dunlop and MacLauchlan
1983:201).
The large rectangular church is unicameral and
measures internally 11.3 m by 5.2 m with an area of
58.76 m² (Fig. 4). Its notable architectural features
include two round-headed windows in the south
royalty or nobility, they were not private chapels
because their sole purpose was the commemoration
of the battle (Orme 1996:83). Chapels might also
be founded on pilgrimage routes; for example, the
“Slipper Chapel” at Houghton St. Giles was located
on the approach to Walsingham and Holy Cross
Church at Mwnt in Ceredigion where pilgrims,
en route to Bardsey, are supposed to have rested
(Adair 1978:16, Webb 2000:229). We might expect
that locational chapels would, on the whole, be
small, although that is dependent on the resources
of the founder, and the size was also likely to be associated
with local or national traditions about their
use. There is some potential crossover between the
last two categories since a cult chapel might be
considered to be locational if it was founded on the
basis of the saint having visited that spot.
Within these categories of chapels, there are
likely to be variants and it may also be that my ongoing
research project may identify chapels that do not
fit easily into any of these four types. Nonetheless,
even with these four chapel types, we have enormous
variety both in terms of official Church functions
and in terms of users. The challenge is to apply
this to Hebridean sites with no historical references
and minimal amounts of archaeological intervention
and historical or archaeological interest.
As we noted earlier in the introduction, the Hebrides
seem to have had a similar parochial structure
to that of England and Scotland, although with the
possibility of some characteristics comparable to the
Norwegian prestegjeld, the priest’s district which
encompassed two or three parishes (Cant 1984:5).
While over half of the parish churches are recorded
in the late Middle Ages, primarily in petitions to the
papacy, the parish boundaries are not, and modern
parish boundaries cannot be assumed to follow medieval
lines given the changes which occurred after
the Reformation. The two islands to be discussed
below both experienced significant changes in their
parish organisation in the post-medieval period.
The two medieval parishes, Soroby and Kirkapoll,
on Tiree were united with that of Coll in 1618 (Scott
1923:108), while on Skye, the creation of the parish
of Portree in 1726 and the amalgamation of Uig
parish into Kilmuir and Snizort parishes around the
same time extensively moved the medieval boundaries
(Campbell 1791–1799:138). In order to reconstruct
the medieval parish boundaries, sixteenthcentury
Crown rentals and early modern tacks were
used in addition to the Origines Parochiales Scotiæ,
which presented reconstructions of the medieval parish
boundaries of some Scottish dioceses including
the Hebrides (OPS 1854). The 1509 Crown rental
of Tiree lists the lands by parish, and it is therefore
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S. Thomas
wall and a semi-circular arch-headed doorway in the
center of the west wall. The doorway and windows
are constructed of slab voussoirs and are vaulted
(RCAHMS 1980:153). There are no visible internal
features such as dedication crosses or altar footings,
except for traces of internal wall plastering. A limited
excavation was undertaken by GUARD in 2001
as part of consolidation work on the east gable of
the church. The excavations revealed both disarticulated
bones and articulated burials within a chamber
underneath the east wall, which the excavator concluded
was part of the original construction of the
church (Lelong 2001:6, 9). Kirkapoll’s status as the
parish church is clearly demonstrated by the large
graveyards, both the one around the parish church
and a second graveyard to the southeast. Their use in
the medieval period is confirmed by the presence of
ten late mediaeval grave-slabs and the plinth of a late
mediaeval cross. The church has been dated to the
later Middle Ages, possibly the second half of the
fourteenth century, on the basis of its architecture
(RCAHMS 1980:156).
Figure 4. Kirkapoll churches from the south-east, Tiree.
Figure 3. The medieval parish of Kirkapoll, Tiree. © Crown Copyright/database right 2011. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA
supplied service.
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S. Thomas
basis of the name, Caibeal Thòmais, and local tradition.
According to Beveridge (1903:156), the site
was known as Caibeal Thòmais, the chapel of Thomas.
Beveridge’s informants told him that “the chapel
ruins were utilised to build the old store on the eastern
side of the harbour” (Beveridge 1903:157). The
Tiree place-names project have recorded a second
place-name, Cladh Beag Thomais, at the northern
edge of the village of Scarinish (Tireeplacenames.
org 2011). There were no visible remains in the location
given by Beveridge. The nearest anchorage and
landing place is approximately 200 m to the south
at what became Scarinish harbor. Turnbull’s map
marks it as a harbor, and it was clearly a sheltered
anchorage even before the construction of the pier. A
chapel might have been built to serve the settlement
which is likely to have grown up in proximity to
this harbor. It might also have served as a chapel for
sailors and other travellers arriving or leaving Tiree,
although if it were primarily intended for sailors, we
might expect a dedication to St Nicholas, the patron
saint of sailors, rather than an apparent dedication
to a Thomas (Orme 1996:87). However, it should be
noted that there are no recorded dedications to St.
Nicholas in the Hebrides, and other saints such as
St. Clement, St. Mary, and possibly also St Brendan
may have served as patrons for sailors and other
travellers. One interesting point is that the nunnery
of Iona owned land at Scarinish, and it may be that
this included the land on which this chapel stood
(RMS 7: 537). Unfortunately, we do not know either
when the nunnery acquired the land or when the
chapel was in use. Therefore, we can only speculate
whether the chapel predated or post-dated the gifting
of the land to the nunnery. We could postulate
that the foundation of a chapel by the nunnery might
have been a means of re-enforcing their possession
of the land.
Balephetrish
The fourth potential chapel site, Ard Chircnis at
Balephetrish, is located to the northwest of Kirkapoll,
approximately 1.5 miles across rough moorland.
There is an old drove road that leads up past
the chapels on to the rough moorland, which was
common grazings at the time of Turnbull’s survey
in 1768. The place-name by which the site is identified
as a possible chapel, Ard Chircnis, means either
the point of the church or the height of the church
(MacBain 1896:8, 18). The first edition OS map recorded
the place-name, Cill Fhinnein—the church or
chapel of St Fínán, in the approximate location given
by Beveridge, but it was not recorded by Reeves
or Beveridge when they discussed this site (National
Library of Scotland 1882, Reeves 1854:241,
Kirkapoll chapel
The chapel is circa 120 m to the northeast of
St. Columba’s church on a small knoll. It is small
in size, measuring 7.1 m by 3.4 m internally with
a total area of 24.14 m². The north wall still stands
to its original height of 2.8 m, whereas the eastern
half of the south wall is partially collapsed. Like
the parish church, it is dated to the latter half of
the fourteenth century (RCAHMS 1980:156). The
chapel’s location is very striking; it has commanding
views over the church, the two graveyards and
the surrounding area. There is also a group of early
mediaeval incised crosses on rock outcrops just
to the north of the chapel, which hint at an early
mediaeval origin for the site (Fisher 2001:124). On
the basis of the chapel’s proximity to these incised
Latin crosses, we might speculate that it sits on
the site of an earlier structure which at some point
in the fourteenth century was replaced by the current
chapel. This chapel should perhaps be seen as
a cult chapel venerating an earlier holy site. The
size of the Kirkapoll site may be a reflection of
its original early mediaeval significance, possibly
as a monastic site. In Adomnán’s account, Tiree
was said to have several monasteries in addition to
Columba’s foundation of Campus Lunge or Magh
Luinge (Fisher 2001:10).
Crois a’ Chaolais
The second potential chapel site is approximately
2.5 miles to the northeast of Kirkapoll. The site
is known as Crois a’ Chaolais, “the Cross of the
strait”. The name of the site implies that there once
was a cross in this location.3 Beveridge (1903:156)
recorded that there were two large stones which
served as the socket for the cross and that the cross
itself had been used to build a house. Unfortunately,
we do not know what size this cross was, but given
its location, we might wonder whether it had served
as a marker for sailors. The site is on rising ground
approximately 700 m from the east coast of Tiree
and Gunna Sound. A tall cross might well have been
visible from the sea. The north-to-south sea route
passed between Coll and Tiree using the Sound of
Gunna: hence, the name for Coll and Tiree, Na h-
Eileanan Tarsainn—“the Athwart Islands” (Matheson
1982:337). However, there are no signs of any
remains at the location given by Beveridge. It seems
unlikely that this was a chapel site.
Caibeal Thòmais
The third chapel site is approximately 1.5 miles
to the southwest of Kirkapoll. It is supposed to have
been located on the edge of the modern township of
Scarinish. It is identified as a putative chapel on the
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1999:109). Cillín tend to be found in a number of
different types of sites in Ireland: abandoned church
sites, prehistoric sites such as those with megaliths
or in ringforts, or tower-houses (Finlay 2000:411).
The apparent presence of infant burials may indicate
that this chapel had been abandoned, and subsequent
to the abandonment, was used as a cillín because
locals believed the place was still holy. This chapel
may have been abandoned by the late mediaeval
period and used for infant burial.
Kilbride
The site of Kilbride may have been located
near Cornaigmore approximately four miles west
of Kirkapoll; Reeves (1854:241) recorded that human
remains had been found in its stackyard and
that there was local knowledge of a chapel building
having existed. However, the Reverend McColl’s
(1791–1799:402) account of the discovery of human
and equine skeletons with weapons in the Old
Statistical Account of 1791–99 does not seem to
be indicative of Christian burial ground. There are
no visible remains of the site. The place-name,
Kilbride, is not recorded on either Turnbull’s map
of Tiree of 1768 or on Blaeu’s map of 1654. There
is a rock called Creag Bhrìde just south of the possible
site, which suggests that there are grounds
for accepting the Kilbride place-name recorded by
Reeves (http://www.tireeplacenames.org/cornaigmore/
creag_bhride/). However, there is insufficient
evidence to conclude this was a chapel site with a
burial ground.
A’Chrois
The final site is located close to the northern
coast of Tiree. It is approximately 4.8 miles northwest
of Kirkapoll. There are no visible remains of
the site. The SCAPE airborne remote-sensing and
ground-penetrating radar survey of Tiree undertook
detailed work at A’Chrois.
In the field behind the farm,
they identified an area of disturbance,
and in the daytime
thermal image there appears
to be a rectangular enclosure
aligned east–west that may be
interpreted as a chapel structure
(Dawson and Winterbottom
2003:29). The ground-penetrating
radar revealed a pattern
which “is consistent with that
expected from the capstone of
a grave” (Dawson and Winterbottom
2003:34). It would thus
appear that there was a chapel
Beveridge 1903:147). There are no visible remains
of chapel or burial ground. Turnbull’s map labels an
area to the east of Balephetrish farm as “the minister’s
glebe”. The minister’s manse at the time was at
Balephetrish, though since it is not listed as such on
the sixteenth-century crown rentals, it was probably
the post-Reformation manse (Cregeen 1964:2; ER
xiii:216–217; ER xviii:614). It is possible that there
was a connection between Balephetrish and either
the parish church site of Kirkapoll or the chapel site
at Cill Fhinnein at Kenovay which might explain the
church place-name.
Kenovay
The next site, Cill Fhinnein, is located at Kenovay
approximately three miles to the west of Kirkapoll.
The place-name, Cill Fhinnein or the chapel
of St. Fínán, was recorded on the first edition OS
map of 1882 (National Library of Scotland 1882).
The dedication of the chapel was probably to a St.
Fínán, whom Watson (1926:285–286) suggested was
a fourth- or early fifth-century saint with Munster
origins. It is surrounded by boggy ground, rocky
knolls, and reeds. The site consists of a rectangular
turf-covered structure measuring 9.1 m by 5.9 m
with a total area of 32.25 m² and orientated EW within
an irregular pentagonal enclosure (Fig. 5). The
stones around the chapel are probably grave stones
since they are aligned east–west and in organized
rows. These stones appear to be small headers and
footers. Reeves recorded that the burial ground had
been used as a place of burial for stillborn, therefore
unbaptized, children (Reeves 1854:241). It seems
probable that this burial ground was used as a cillín
for the burial of unbaptized children. According to
Canon law, the unbaptized were not allowed to be
buried in consecrated ground, and therefore burial
places outside the norm, usually away from the parish
church, had to be established (Donnelly et al.
Figure 5. Cill Fhinnein from the east, Tiree.
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S. Thomas
and burial ground at A’ Chrois. The place-name, A’
Chrois, means “of the cross”; there is a place-name
recorded nearby on the first edition OS map: Mullach
na Croise. Beveridge (1903:153) suggested
that it should have read Crois a’ Moluag, the Cross
of Moluag, which would suggest that the Kilmoluag
place-name recorded by Blaeu in 1654 and now the
name of a township to the southwest of A’ Chrois
may have originally have referred to this chapel. The
chapel is therefore likely to have been dedicated to
St Moluag or Mo-Luóc of Lismore, who died in 592
(Watson 1926:292).
It is noticeable how close together the last three
sites are; the chapel at Cornaigmore is only 1780 m
from A’ Chrois and only 1530 m from Cill Fhinnein.
It is possible to see the other two chapels from any of
these three chapels. Does this therefore indicate that
this northwest area of Tiree was more densely populated
than other areas and therefore needed more chapels
in order to accommodate the inhabitants? The
1509 and 1541 rentals indicate the concentration of
settlement in this northwest area and suggest that it
was high quality land. The landholdings of Kenovay,
Kilmoluaig, Cornaigmore, Cornaigbeg, Balevullin,
and Beist had a combined value of 31 marks in 1541,
whereas the other landholdings in the parish which
were spread out over a great area were only worth
a total of 34 marks (ER xviii:614–615). We might
therefore conclude, based on these relatively high
land values, that there was a greater concentration
of settlement in the vicinity. The population in 1768
was certainly greater in this part of the parish: the
townships of Kenovay, Cornaigbeg, Cornaigmore,
Beist, Kilmoluaig and Park, Balevullin, and Hough
had a total population of 571, whereas the rest of the
parish, covering a much larger area, added up to 564
(Cregeen 1964:Tiree map). While the actual figures
may be too high for the late mediaeval period, the
fact that there is a higher proportion of inhabitants
for the northwest part of the island than the rest of
the parish may be significant. Clearly we have to
bear in mind the potential for population movement
within the island and population growth, but relative
population density may explain why there are three
chapels in the northwest of Tiree.
It seems highly probable that one of these three
chapels was a dependent chapel serving the population
of that immediate area. Which of the three was
the dependent chapel is difficult to determine. A’
Chrois is the most likely based on the findings of the
ground-penetrating radar survey, but clearly there
are many uncertainties including the date of the site.
We cannot determine whether the site was in use in
the late mediaeval period or earlier.
Snizort on Skye
The parish of Snizort is the central parish in
Skye, both geographically and in ecclesiastical importance
(Fig. 6). From 1387 onwards, the parish
church site of St. Columba’s of Snizort on Skeabost
Island was the cathedral seat for the diocese of Sodor
(Thomas 2010:32; for discussion of the archaeology
and history of Snizort, see Thomas, in press). The
parish church seems to have remained on the island
and to have been served by a perpetual vicar, perhaps
with the revenues of the rectory appropriated to the
bishopric (Dunlop and MacLauchlan 1983:188, Kirk
et al. 1997:87). There is certainly evidence for burial
on the island; there are at least two late mediaeval
grave-slabs on the island in addition to a great many
more recent burials. No font survives, but according
to F.T. MacLeod (1910:375), there was a simple font
lying near the church in the nineteenth century.
The remains of the large rectangular church lie in
the center of the island and measure 23 m by 5.30 m
east–west with a total area of 121 m² (Fig. 7). The
walls survive as turf-covered banks, except at the
northwest corner where up to six courses of walling
are visible. The interpretation of the layout of the
interior of the church is rendered complicated by
Figure 6. The medieval parish of Snizort, Skye. © Crown
Copyright/database right 2011. An Ordnance Survey/
EDINA supplied service.
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S. Thomas
the insertion of early modern burial enclosures, but
it is possible that there is a division of the building
about 5 m from the east wall (Thomas, in press:5).
There may also have been a lateral chapel on the
south wall, measuring 5 m by 10.6 m, and ancillary
buildings to the north (Ibid:6). Two architectural
fragments associated with the church provide some
potential dates, though it must be noted neither has
an exact find-spot recorded. The first is a fluted or
reeded nook-shaft capital that has close parallels to
two early thirteenth-century column capitals from
Iona (RCAHMS 1982:268 n.118). The second architectural
fragment is a fairly elaborate piece of roll
moulding that has at least five rolls. It is difficult
to date with certainty, but it is most probably later
mediaeval, either fourteenth or fifteenth century,
and was probably from a window or doorway. These
two fragments provide us with a tantalizing glimpse
of what the church might have looked like. They
certainly suggest it was a more ornate building than
the very simple parish church at Kirkapoll on Tiree,
which had no architectural mouldings.
The island is in an accessible location; it is only
a quarter of a mile from the head of Loch Snizort
where boats could be anchored or drawn up, and
it seems to be at the edge of one of the main route
ways to the northwest of Skye. It is interesting to
note while looking at the map of the parish that this
northwestern part of the parish, and in particular
the low-lying land, all have access to Loch Snizort.
Thus, as long as you had access to a boat, it was not
an especially long journey to the parish church.
In terms of chapels, there are five possible chapel
sites in the parish of Snizort, all but one of which are
in the southeast of the parish. The first is on Skeabost
Island and is located in the northwestern corner of
the island. It is a small rectangular structure that
measures 6.5 m by 4.80 m externally with an entranceway
in the western end of the north wall. No
architectural fragments survive from the doorway.
The only surviving window is a square-headed opening
in the east gable that is splayed on all four sides.
Sandstone architectural fragments in the chapel
walls have led Martin Wildgoose (2000:1) to suggest
that the chapel postdates the late medieval cathedral.
Additionally, the window style is comparable
to the late medieval chapel of St Ninian on Sanda,
and therefore a sixteenth-century date is plausible
(RCAHMS 1971:151). This structure is known as
the “Nicolson Aisle” because of a Nicolson tradition
that the Nicolson chiefs were buried there (Maclean
1999:45). I would therefore argue that the chapel
was most likely a private chapel of the Nicolsons,
though we cannot rule out the possibility that it
served as the parish church if the cathedral building
proved too large and expensive for the parish to
maintain.
Three potential sites, Bile chapel, Kiltaraglen
and Eilean Chaluim Chille, cluster around modern
day Portree. The most important of these seems to
be Bile chapel, immediately to the north of Portree.
It sits in a striking location at the side of a
reasonably flat field with steeply rising slopes on
all three sides and a view straight out to sea to the
east (Fig. 8). The site consists of a small rectangular
structure orientated ENE–WSW (NG44SE 1).
It measures 8.2 m by 4 m internally and the walls
are circa 0.90 m thick with a total internal area of
32.8 m². The doorway may have been in the west
end of the south wall. The interior of the chapel is
filled with loose stone that may be tumble from the
walls. Alternatively, the chapel site may have been
used as a place to dump stone from field clearance.
The only indication of burials is a little to the west
of the chapel where there is the grave stone of a
coxswain who seems to have died at sea and been
buried here. The area immediately around the chapel
is so littered with loose stone that it is difficult
Figure 8. Bile chapel from the west, Skye.
Figure 7. East end of the interior of the cathedral church
at Snizort, Skye.
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S. Thomas
It is not mentioned in the first Statistical Account,
which may suggest that it had quickly gone out of
use after the Reformation. The dedication to St.
Columba, as commemorated in the place-name, is
perhaps evidence that this was a cult chapel dedicated
to the veneration of St. Columba. Without
any datable evidence, such as early mediaeval
crosses, we cannot say whether it is an early mediaeval
or later mediaeval dedication.
Kiltaraglen
The fourth chapel site, Kiltaraglen, has no visible
remains and some of the references ascribed to it
actually refer to Bile chapel. It is identified as a possible
chapel site on the basis of the place-name, Kiltaraglen,
which OPS translated as “the chapel at the
bottom of the glen” (OPS 1854:355). The RCAHMS
suggest a dedication to a St. Talorgen, while Watson
(2004:298) suggests that it is dedicated to Talorcan.
The earliest attestation is Kiltareglan from 1 May
1734 (NRAS3273/4277). There may have been a
chapel site here, but there is too little evidence to
make any realistic suggestions.
Achnahannait
The final possible chapel site is at Achnahannait,
circa 10 miles to the south, and again it is only
a putative chapel. This location has been identified
as a possible chapel site because of the place-name,
Achnahannait, which means the field of the annait.
The meaning of the second element, annait,
is much debated—the latest view, that of Thomas
Clancy (1995:114), is that it refers either to an early
important church site or to the possession of such
a church, particularly when it is a compound annat
place-name like this one. There are no identifiable
archaeological remains of a chapel in the vicinity
of this place-name, either on the ground or on aerial
photographs (NMRS number: NG53NW 15). This
site is therefore interpreted as a field or piece of
land possessed by another church, quite possibly
Snizort.
Therefore, from these five chapel sites in this parish,
Bile chapel is the most likely candidate to be a
dependent chapel. Its relative distance from the parish
church and the apparently long tradition of burial
there seem quite convincing. It can also be classed as
a medium-sized chapel which had sufficient space for
community worship. The chapel on Eilean Chaluim
Chille was perhaps a cult chapel, dedicated to St Columba
and with devotees making their way out there
to pray to him. Its internal area of only 21 m² places
it in the small size category; it would only have been
suitable for very small numbers of people. The status
of Kiltaraglen is uncertain, while Achnahannait is
to identify any other grave-markers.
Careful reading of the first Statistical Account of
the parish of Portree has led me to conclude that the
second Roman Catholic chapel recorded in it is not
the putative chapel of Kiltaraglen as identified by
OPS and the RCAHMS, but is in fact Bile chapel.
The first Statistical Account of 1791–1799 recorded
the presence of an old Roman Catholic chapel which
“was the only burying ground at this end of the barony
of Trotternish” and was used up until about 45
years before that time (Campbell 1791–99:145). The
description of the location, with the chapel at the
western end of a plain with a steep declivity above
it, makes it very clear that this old Roman Catholic
chapel has to be Bile chapel. It provides an excellent
description of the way in which the chapel was
reached. When surveying the site, we noted the wellestablished
path to the chapel, which has at various
points some stone-revetting supporting it (Thomas
2009:243).
Eilean Chaluim Chille
The third chapel is on an island in Loch
Portree—the site and island are known as Eilean
Chaluim Chille, the island of St. Columba. Excavated
by Roger Miket in 1989, it has no burial
ground and is only known to have had a handful
of burials in the early eighteenth century (Miket
undated:1). The chapel itself is a small rectangular
stone structure orientated east–west and measuring
6 m by 3.5 m with a total internal area of 21 m²
(Fig. 9). It is relatively inaccessible, since it can
only be reached at low tide, and even then it is a
slippery route across seaweed-covered rocks. It
may be possible to reach the island by boat at high
water, but at any other time a boat would probably
run aground on the sand around the island. MacKenzie’s
chart of 1776 and the Admiralty chart of
1851–1857 marks mud flats all around the island.
Figure 9. Eilean Chaluim Chille from the east, Skye.
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S. Thomas
subsequently been developed during my ongoing postdoctoral
research fellowship funded by the Leverhulme
Trust and the University of Aberdeen. I am grateful for
the guidance, suggestions and forbearance of my Ph.D.
supervisors, Professor Stephen Driscoll and Dr. Martin
MacGregor, and the examiners of my Ph.D., Professor
Richard Oram and Dr. Michael Given. I have to thank the
anonymous reviewers of my paper for their comments and
feedback. I would also like to thank Dr. Barbara Crawford
for taking on the role as guest editor. I am grateful to Dr
Simon Taylor for suggesting Sts Mary, Clement, and Brendan
as potential patron saints for sailors and travellers.
Gilbert Márkus kindly confirmed that the “Commemorations
of Saints in Scottish Place-Names” Project has not,
so far, identified any Nicholas dedications in the Hebrides.
Last but not least, I am very grateful to Dr Nicholas Evans
for his constant support and encouragement. All mistakes
and errors are of course my own.
Literature Cited
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Campbell, A. 1791–1799. Parish of Portree, anciently
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likely to have been a possession of another church
with no chapel in that location.
Conclusion
The centrality of the parish church for parochial
life may well have been diminished in many
parishes by the addition of chapels serving distant
communities. However, not every chapel would
threaten the status of the parish church, and most
likely added to the diversity of religious practices.
Many chapels such as those in the locational, cult,
and private chapel categories would have been
outside the parish structure and, at least theoretically,
should not have impinged upon the rights of
the parish church. The dependent chapels were perhaps
the most important chapels in terms of their
parochial status. The case studies of the parishes
of Snizort in Skye and Kirkapoll on Tiree demonstrate
that in many parishes there can be a number
of different categories of chapel. Bile chapel and
A’Chrois are the most likely candidates in the two
parishes for dependent chapels, while Eilean Chalium
Chille and Cill Fhinnein at Kenovay are probable
cult chapels. The latter’s cult status is hinted at
by its use as a burial place for infants. Neither parish
had any private or locational chapels, but this is
not necessarily surprising. If Tiree had had any private
chapels, we might expect one to have been located
in the vicinity of Island House, which lies in
Soroby parish rather than Kirkapoll, while Snizort
parish has no surviving archaeological evidence of
later medieval elite settlement. The two parishes
had quite distinctly different patterns of church and
chapel distribution, which leads us to conclude that
such patterns were inherently local, dependent on
local needs and devotional interests. This paper has
demonstrated that it is possible to identify different
chapel types based on archaeological, toponymic,
and locational evidence in addition to historical
evidence. The English historical framework for
chapel types has been used as a guide, but should
not be viewed as set in stone; with further research
on chapel sites, the four-fold classification may
be modified. The classifications as they stand are
quite broad and it may be that they require subclassification
within some of the categories. Rather
than seeing these chapels as replacements for the
parish church, we should instead interpret them as
examples of religious diversity.
Acknowledgments
This paper has its origins in the case-study chapters
of my Ph.D., funded by the Carnegie Trust, and has
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Endnotes
1There are significant challenges to reconstructing medieval
parish boundaries on Lewis because some of the
parish churches are in completely different locations and
few of the documents used to reconstruct boundaries in
Skye and Tiree, for example, survive for Lewis. The figure
of five or six miles is therefore an estimate based on
the boundary lying halfway between the parish churches
of Uig and Barvas.
2The sources for the data are the RCAHMS CANMORE
database, the RCAHMS Argyll inventories and Barrowman’s
(2005) Lewis Coastal Chapel-Sites Survey 2004/5.
3There are three cross place-names on Tiree and one on
Coll. The second is A’ Crois which will be discussed below.
The third, Crossapoll, has no associated chapel site
and so is not discussed. On Coll the place-name, Crossapoll,
is associated with a chapel and burial ground. All
four place-names seem to indicate that there had at some
point been a cross of some form standing in or near that
location. The Coll place-name may also indicate that the
chapel was dedicated to the Cross.