Description

This monument consists of the partially buried remains of a chapel together with the large mound into which it is set.

The chapel, Teampull Bhuirgh, measures internally 14m E to W by 5m N to S, with a simple rectangular plan. The lower portions of roughly mortared walls of local rubble stand to about 1m high internally. A window recess is visible in the E end of each long wall. Drifted sand has built up the external ground level to the top of the walls.

The remains of the chapel are set into a large flat-topped mound which stands 4m above the surrounding machair. This mound is formed by the sand-covered remains of a settlement which dates back to the later Iron Age, if no earlier, on the evidence of abundant pottery found on its lower slopes.

The area to be scheduled is rectangular, 120m NW to SE by 80m NE to SW, to include the chapel and the mound in which it sits, as marked in red on the attached map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

This monument is of national importance as a good example of a simple chapel set, as frequently is the case, upon the remains of a settlement of considerably earlier origin. The underlying mound holds the potential, through excavation, to enhance understanding of settlement chronology in the area in the later prehistoric and earlier medieval periods.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NF 75 SE 13.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland