Barrowman, R. (2023). Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations': chapel-sites in the Isle of Lewis. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 152. Vol 152, Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. pp. 147-191. https://doi.org/10.5284/1118572. Cite this via datacite
 Title The title of the publication or report |
Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations': chapel-sites in the Isle of Lewis | ||||||
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Issue The name of the volume or issue |
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 152 | ||||||
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Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland | ||||||
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152 | ||||||
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147 - 191 | ||||||
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Abstract The abstract describing the content of the publication or report |
The study of chapel-sites in any part of north and west Britain and Ireland is not easy. Contemporary documentary references are rare, and archaeological work has traditionally been site-specific, with interpretations often contested. In Lewis, the northernmost island of the Outer Hebrides, or Western Isles, of Scotland, this situation is magnified due to an almost complete lack of any surviving historical documents relating to the island prior to the 17th century, and of any archaeological work other than ad hoc rescue work. As the first extensive survey of chapel-sites to be undertaken in Lewis, the completion and publication of the Lewis Coastal Chapel-sites Survey is therefore a crucially important starting point in the analysis of these understudied sites. The survey identified 37 known chapel-sites on the Lewis mainland and outlying islands, and thus testifies to a vibrant landscape of Christian belief from the early medieval period onwards. Since being published (Barrowman 2020) it has provided a baseline, to which this paper adds an overview and brief discussion of site distribution, building form, landscape setting, potential dating, relation of sites to place-names and local traditions, and the setting of chapel buildings within the local identity and culture of medieval Lewis. In common with the Hebrides as a whole, most chapel buildings in Lewis, where discernible, are single-chambered with a doorway in the south wall and a window in the east gable wall, and most have approximated length–breadth ratios of 1:1.5 or 1:1.6. The exceptions to this are the small chapels on the outlying islands of North Rona and the Flannans, and on one mainland site in Lewis situated on a high headland. Visible from the busy routeways around Lewis, associated with early place-names, it is suggested that these sites, while potentially early, were not secluded and remote from the world. The evidence within the suite of sites for Viking Age or Late Norse chapels is also explored, particularly those bicameral chapels built directly into mounds or areas of earlier material. Finally, the place of chapel-sites in the Lordship and beyond is discussed, with particular emphasis on local identity and tradition in the district of Ness at the north end of Lewis. | ||||||
Year of Publication The year the book, article or report was published |
2023 | ||||||
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Created Date The date the record of the pubication was first entered |
12 Apr 2024 |
